Not A Hero
by Untraveled
Summary: Set in a world where every mammal has super powers. Nick Wilde is released from prison after 15 years. Branded a criminal and terrorist and bound by a red collar called a "Kill Switch" the fox tries to piece together his life. His world is turned sideways once again when a friend is murdered and displayed on the steps of the Hero Association, where the killer left Nick a message...
1. Chapter 1

Not a Hero

Prologue

The last time they had spoken his voice had still squeaked from puberty. The last time they had seen each other he hadn't been old enough to drive.

The last time they had seen each other, he had helped scrape the pieces of Nick's mother and girlfriend from the crater the bomb had left.

15 years was a long time.

How much had Nick changed?

One thing that hadn't changed was the weather, Finnick realized. The same day Gloria Wilde and Mary Redtail died in that explosion it had rained heavily, much like the torrential downpour currently smashing against his van's cracked windshield.

It was like time was replaying that day all over again; or perhaps it was picking up where Nick's life had left off.

The harsh glow of spotlights fizzled through the pouring rain like static through an old television. Their blinding gazes sweeping across the darkened sky and wet ground like gargoyles circling their castle in the night.

The storm choked out the moon's gentle light and the stars' twinkling eyes, leaving Finnick feeling on edge as he pulled his van over and parked on the curb. His hardened brown eyes glared up at the monstrosity of brick and barbed wire.

A pair of spotlights rolled across the building, illuminating the words set into the stone.

'Cliffside Super Penitentiary'

Or fondly referred to as the "Super Pen" by its residents.

Several layers of electric fences stood between the outside barbed wire barrier and the fifty-foot cinder block walls. Guard towers set into the wall overlooked the prison's interior and exterior. Finn could just barely make out the silhouettes of the armed guards patrolling the wall.

A growl rumbled up from Finnick's chest as a familiar anger burned in his throat. A soft beep sounded in the quiet van and the green light over the fox's neck flicked to a warning yellow.

Finnick forced his growl to a stop and stuffed his outrage down deep; down where he kept the rest of his emotions.

The yellow painted shock collar strapped to his neck beeped once more before the light blinked back to green.

Yellow shock collars were issued to low risk criminal Supers with weak powers. Most mammals call the little devices "Naughty Buzzers" from the high-pitched crackle sound they made when the collar zapped the offender.

He huffed in irritation and glanced at his radio's digital clock.

'11:59 P.M.'

One minute.

14 years, 11 months, 29 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes since Finnick had seen his best friend.

Now it was all down to this, just one more minute more.

The second Finnick's clock struck midnight the Super Pen's front gates slammed open to booming applause and rowdy howls.

Several spotlights swung around illuminating the long figure walking backwards with a duffle bag slung on his back and waving goodbye to the courtyard of inmates in red jumpsuits and identical red painted shock collars pressing against the inside fence and cheering for all they were worth.

Finnick rolled his eyes and threw his door open.

 _Leave it to Nick to go into the harshest hell-hole on the continent and walk out to a standing ovation from its demons._

"Nikolai! Say 'allo to my Darcy for me, Da?" A massive polar bear with a vicious scar running between his eyes shouted.

"You got it buddy!" The lone figure shot a finger gun at the bear. "But you could tell her yourself in 13 months! Hang in there!"

Though it was hard to tell through the blinding rain the bear's red painted shock collar flicked from yellow to an angry crimson as a happy grin spread across as the ursine inmate's maw and electricity crackled against his neck.

On closer inspection, nearly every inmate's collar was red as they cheered and roared defiantly against the howling rain.

Finnick had waded across the flooded street and was a mere two yards from the figure's turn back when his courage failed him.

The rain soaking into his fur went unnoticed as he stared at his long-lost friend's back. His red jumpsuit had already soaked through from the downpour and stuck to his frame like glue exposing the tightly woven muscles normally hidden underneath his fur. Below his jaw and around his neck sat a red painted shock collar exactly like that of the other inmates.

It was a little memento courtesy of Zootopia's Super Criminal Courts. A collar designed for high risk criminal Supers. A delightful device nicknamed a "Kill Switch".

The freed fox's pointed ears flattened against his head as he somberly watched with a sense of helplessness and loss as the prison gates slowly swung closed and the inmates' cheers were silenced until the only sound was the howl of the wind and the dull roar of rain striking asphalt.

"Aren't you going to welcome me back?" The figure asked, his back still turned, and his eyes stuck on the prison he had called home for half of his life.

Finnick was at a loss for words, but his hustler instincts kicked in a moment later and he found words pouring off his tongue without thinking.

"Just get in the van ya twit."

The figure snorted in amusement and his shoulders bounced in a shrug.

"You got it big guy."

He couldn't do it. Finnick couldn't find the strength to look his childhood friend in the eye in fear of what he might find there.

Finnick spun on his heels and made for the safety of his van with a quickness born of uncertainty, his eyes never leaving his feet.

He climbed into the driver's seat and shook himself free of as much rain water as he could while keeping his eyes on the steering wheel, even as the other fox threw open the passenger door and settled into the seat with his duffle bag at his feet.

The distance between them felt like the void between the earth and moon. What could they say?

 _It's been 15 years._

The red fox in the passenger seat cleared his throat, causing Finnick's huge, radar like ears to swivel in his direction.

"Thanks for… you know… for picking me up…"

"Sure."

The conversation died and the patter of rain against the cracked windshield filled the quiet.

Finnick almost flinched when the other fox's voice suddenly broke the silence.

"15 years, huh?"

"Yeah…"

The red fox fell quiet for a second before softly laughing.

"Why is it suddenly so hard to talk to you?" He chuckled weakly.

A tiny smile curled on Finnick's lips.

"Maybe 'cuz even 15 years in the Super Pen couldn't cure ya of being an insufferable ass."

That statement got a yipping belly laugh out of the red fox.

"Glad to see you haven't lost your bite big guy!"

"Fuck you, Red."

"Now, now. Don't tell me you kiss your mommy with that filthy mouth." The red fox snarked.

Finnick rolled his eyes.

"I need a smoke."

He popped his armrest up and dug out a crumpled pack of cigarettes and a cheap plastic lighter. He bit a cigarette butt and pulled it free from its fellows and flicked the lighter to its end. The lighter sputtered and refused to light.

"Damn useless thing." Finnick cursed around his unlit cigarette.

"Here, let me."

The red fox snapped his fingers and a tiny flame sprung to life on his claw tip. He passed the flame over the end of Finnick's cigarette and the little fox took a long soothing drag from the rolled tobacco. He pulled the cigarette from his lips and breathed out a faint cloud of smoke.

Having his dose of tobacco seemed to have also given Finnick a sudden burst of courage. He turned his head and looked into the other fox's face.

The Nick that Finnick had known was a skinny teenaged tod with wide green eyes and red-orange fur, sporting white fur from his throat to his stomach and a splash of white[1] on the tip of his tail.

The Nick that was before him was still slender, but coils of powerful muscle wrapped deceptively tight around his frame. His eyes were still green, but they seemed richer, almost emerald in the way they glowed in the dark.

It was still Nick, but an older, darker, and more lethal mirror image of the hopeful troublemaker he had once known.

But what sold Finnick on the fact that this truly was his friend was the sly grin that hovered at the edge of his lips.

No one Finnick knew could pull off the "smug, sarcastic prick" look like Nick did.

"Thanks," Finnick mumbled before taking another pull from his cigarette.

"No problem," Nick replied. He flicked the flame from his finger.

"I see you've gotten better at using your powers," Finnick commented.

"I see you're still inhaling that poison. Ya know smoking's going to kill you one day," Nick retorted.

"You know I got a healin' factor," Finnick shot back.

"Healing factors can't fix lung cancer Finn."

Instead of answering, Finnick inhaled the last of the cigarette and crushed the remnants in his

paw, throwing it into an empty cup holder with the others.

"Ready ta get outta here?" Finnick asked.

"You bloody well know I am!" Nick chuckled. "It's been a decade and a half since I stepped foot in the city! Get me the hell outta here!"

Finnick cracked a grin and cranked the van into gear. The worn tires squealed and churned water as the beat-up old van spun around and took off towards the city lights in the distance.

"Hey Nick?"

"Yeah buddy?"

"Welcome home."

A/N: Welcome Home dear readers!

Untraveled here along with the mighty Slayer of horrid grammar and fiendish misspellings, TheWildestCanuck himself!

We are proud to present not the fanfic you wanted, but the fanfic I gave you anyway. Lol

Though not a direct incarnation Not A Hero does draw influence from the likes of games like 'Infamous' and online comics like 'Unordinary'.

See ya in the next one!

-Untraveled

Editor's Note:

Another chapter, another grammatical beast slain!

I almost choked on my coffee when I saw a new project to tackle. I may not be as super as the foxy duo, but the Flash would be proud with how fast I ran to my trusty typewriter.

With the next season of ZCOM in the works, this'll be a great way to get your fix of Untraveled's writing, with a dollop of impeccable grammar on top. We'll be sure to give you folks a good show!

~ Canuck Editor Guy


	2. Two Months After

Chapter 1: Two Months After

"I guess it's time to pack it up and call it big guy, doubt anyone else is gonna show. Not with these stylish neck poppers around our throats."

"Hmm."

Nick took Finnick's gruff hum as an agreement and pulled a red pawpsicle from the cooler of ice. The fox idly chomped at a strawberry flavored toe as his eyes darted around his surroundings.

Though his poise was relaxed, internally Nick was wound tight as a coiled spring. The faded green button-down dress shirt he had taken from the donation box at the Happytown Homeless Shelter hung off him like king-sized covers over a twin-sized mattress. the sleeves dangled past his elbows and the hem flapped nearly to his knees.

The slacks he wore were from the same box and were very clearly meant for a mammal much taller than Nick. Thus, with a pair of scissors, a little thread, and an hour's experimenting, Nick had a fairly presentable pair of shorts hanging off his hips.

Most mornings Nick found that when he looked in the mirror he could barely recognize the mammal looking back at him. All the fox saw was a younger, green-eyed version of his father lazily dressed in shoddy paw-me-downs.

Nick felt very much out of his depth, like an alien in strange, loose skin. His clothes were uncomfortably light and airy, to the point that he had to fight an intense urge to itch at the odd sensation.

His paws would unconsciously drift upward to fiddle with the now non-existent zipper of his equally non-existent jumpsuit. Instead, his fingers would find his top button and for some reason, it irritated him to no end.

 _Never thought I would actually find myself missing prison._ Nick mused. He forced his wandering paw into his pocket to add to his relaxed illusion.

The todd's half-lidded emerald eyes scanned the dusk painted street.

Mammals of every shape, size, and ability filled the depths of the concrete jungle, desperate to make it into their homes and hovels for the night.

Some walked the street, others strolled along walls and for the truly gifted they simply took to the air and flew, leaving the chaos down below to the foolish earthbound mammals. Chaos like the struggle to find space on the packed sidewalks of the city.

Well, except for the portion of sidewalk the Fox duo were on.

Zootopia's softer denizens opted to take the long way around and cross the road just to avoid the shifty criminals in the red and yellow collars.

The fox hid his frustration under layers of practiced discipline and razor-sharp wit, but even he had his limits. His collar's green light never flickered though, not even for a second. Nick Wilde took pride in his incredible control over such things as his emotions and his powers, as he had boasted to Finnick time and time again.

In stark contrast, the tiny fox's naughty buzzer often resembled a spotlight at a rave. The little indicator constantly blinked between green and yellow throughout the day, and that infuriating beep it made every time it changed color only served to rile Finnick up further, much to Nick's amusement.

It was never amusing to the red fox when his friend's collar turned red, however. That was never funny.

Sure enough, Nick heard a little beep and Finnick's outlandishly low voice dip into a deep growl of frustration.

"Never let them see that they get to you," Nick chirped. His trusty mantra always at the ready. Whether it was out of a desire to help his short-tempered friend or just to irritate him further remained a mystery.

"Fuck off." Finnick snapped.

"My my, so feisty!" Nick laughed. "It seems I may have to talk to Mister Manchas about changing the meal tonight from that spicy curry that you love so much. Your temper seems hot enough as it is."

"You tell that cat anything about the menu tonight and I'll BITE YO FACE OFF!"

Nick's amused smirk vanished into wide-eyed concern.

"Hey-!" he managed to choke before Finnick's collar beeped and flicked to an angry red.

Nick dove to catch his small friend when his collar when off.

The little device crackled and popped with a sound like hail on a windshield as thousands of volts slammed into Finnick's neck and proceeded to wreak havoc in his tiny body. Finnick clenched his jaw as his body seized and his fur and tail stood straight on end before he toppled over into his friend's arms.

Nick's nose scrunched against the faint smell of burning fur as a thin wisp of smoke rose from Finnick's neck.

After five agonizing seconds Finnick's collar finally shut off with an innocent chirp and the tiny fox sagged in his friend's arms; mostly out of sheer relief. Finnick's fingers twitched from the shock's aftermath and the all too familiar ghost pains that skittered up and down his numb limbs.

"Why do you do this to yourself, Finn?" Nick sighed. "Once a day buddy, you do this to yourself at least once a day. Healing factor or no that can't be good for you."

The tiny fox tried to growl but all that came out was a sad little cough.

"I wonder whose fault that is?" Finnick snapped. "Now quit holdin' me like some sappy dame and let me up, you oaf."

Nick let his friend up and shook the jolting aftershocks from his fur. A fox shaped battery isn't exactly fun to catch, regardless of the power Nick possessed.

Nick had been so focused on keeping Finnick from hurting himself that he didn't notice the mammals looming over him from behind until he backed up right into a bear's legs.

Nick stumbled forward and spun around to face the grizzly bear staring down at him wordlessly. The Ursine looked well-kempt compared to Nick. Even his clothes, a blue hoodie and a pair of jeans, were clean and spotless. His thick fur glistened from a routine of washing, but underneath that glossy fur, Nick noticed a startling lack of muscle that was atypical for a grizzly bear.

In prison, Nick had further developed his sense for reading mammals. Though it was difficult for many to tell much about those outside of their species (at least those without the requisite observational skills) Nick had practiced relentlessly on his odd set of skills, giving him an unexpected edge when dealing with others.

 _A middle class young pup trying to act all bad and grown up. Perhaps 21-22 years old?_

A flash of a tan and white keychain hanging from one of the bear's pockets caught Nick's attention.

 _Sahara Central University. So a student with a mean streak. No, more than that, this cub's too thin for a normal grizzly. Drugs? His eyes are sunken and he looks withered. so a desperate druggie broke and in need of a fix. Great._

"Can I help you, folks?" Alarm bells crashed in Nick's head but neither his expression nor his collar showed his apprehension. "Care for a Pawpsicle? We are about to pack them up."

The hooligans didn't bother sparing the odd paw-painted advertised ice cooler a glance.

Nick kept his half-lidded eyes on the bear's blank stare, but out of the corner of his vision, he could make out the movement of a couple of the bear's cronies. His worries were confirmed when a smug grin spread across the bear's wide muzzle.

"Yeah, you can help us. It seems ya came up into the Sahara without paying the collar fee." The bear rumbled. "We can't have criminal trash like you dirtying up our streets without compensation for clean up."

The two mammals behind him, a bulky male caribou and an unsettling black bear, giggled at their leader's clever quip.

Internally, Nick sighed.

 _Okay, so stabby druggies. Bloody Hell, here we go again…_

"Collar fee, really? That's the best you can come up with?" Nick drawled and set his paws on his hips with disappointment written all over his muzzle.

Nick's unimpressed frown clocked the Grizzly's grin for a spin and knocked the wind out of his sails.

A convicted criminal fox was standing up to an uncollared bear easily 20 times his weight, not counting the other two mammals flanking him.

"You got a death wish fox?" The grizzly growled.

"Perhaps."

The grizzly's growl rose in pitch as pieces of cracked asphalt rose from the worn street and encased his massive fists in a thick layer of rock.

"I heard those collars keep criminals like you from fully using their powers, _and_ keep your emotions in check." The thug's bared lips twisted into a confident smile as he gave a meaningful nod at the red shock collar around Nick's throat.

"I also heard what Kill Switches can do to fucks like you." Nick tensed as the bear's companions chuckled darkly.

"I've always wanted to see what happens when they get set off after the warning shock. I've heard its _explosively_ fun."

A familiar beep from behind him told Nick Finnick had at the very least recovered enough of his anger to set his collar back to yellow.

"Yo!" The trio of troublemakers all jumped as a monstrously deep voice boomed over them.

Three sets of eyes spun around, frantically looking for the massive mammal just out of their sight to whom the voice must belong.

What they found was a pint-sized fennec waving around a bat as tall as he was. Rage danced in Finnick's eyes as his still twitching limbs wobbled against the collar's debilitating after effects. He pointed the bat at the stupefied Grizzly's nose.

"Either buy somethin' or git your fat tails outta our fur! We ain't got time ta fuddle fuck wit you twits. Curry's on the line here!." Finnick snapped.

His best friend's little outburst put a wide grin on Nick's face and drew a small, genuine laugh from his lips.

"Eloquently put big guy." Nick chortled and set his eyes back on the thunderstruck muggers looming over them. "Perhaps not the _most_ appropriate timing but at the very least the stupid looks on their faces are worth the trip to the hospital."

"You mean _your_ trip ta the hospital." Finnick retorted. "Healin' factor, remember?"

An earthshaking growl interrupted the foxy duo's snarky sidebar as an enraged Grizzly towered over them with paws wrapped in stone.

"The only place you fucking pelts are going is the rutting morgue after that fucking Kill Switch pops your head of your fucking shoulders."

Nick clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"Language buddy! Children are probably reading this!"

"Fuck you!"

The bear swung his stone fist with the full intent on squashing the smug convict into a bloody fox-shaped indent on the pavement. It's not like anyone would care if a criminal like him died. The Kill Switch around the fox's neck was evidence of that. His life was worthless, forfeit.

He was practically a dead mammal walking anyway, so was it really murder if the bear killed him before the collar did?

The strong rule the weak. Those blessed with great power were respected and feared. The only authority most supers recognized was the Zootopia Hero Association, and only because the strongest Supers resided there.

The grizzly felt secure in his ability. He was a Class B Super, making his abilities inherently stronger than those of the average mammal. Even if someone was to come to the criminals' aid he was confident he and his cronies could easily handle them and the collared foxes.

No one could stand up to him. As desperate as he was to get his fix and halt the withdrawal racking his thinned body, the bear was sure the tiny fox stood no chance.

Imagine the bear's surprise when his fist met empty air and the filthy, scrawny fox in the ugly green shirt flowed around his assault like water over a rock, his infuriatingly smug smirk never wavering from his lips.

"Well aren't we enthusiastic?" Nick chuckled as he deftly swayed under another of the bear's blows. He took another nibble from his pawpsicle and pointed the frozen treat at the enraged bear.

"Seems daddy's money couldn't keep up with both tuition and your drug habits huh?" Nick asked with a false sympathy dripping from his smirk. "That thick fur of yours can only hide your sunken eyes so much. Coke?"

"I'm going to fuckin' skin your ragged hide and nail your tail to my mantle!"

"Ah, meth." Nick solemnly nodded in understanding. "Explains you and your cronies' long sleeves and hoodies. Can't have daddy seeing the bald patches on your arm from all the needles, can we?"

"Shut. UP!"

With a guttural roar the grizzly smashed his fists into the sidewalk, the shockwave put Nick off balance, forcing the fox to take a few steps back until he was next to Finnick and their cooler.

"It never fails to impress me just how fast ya can piss off complete strangers." Finnick deadpanned. "Nevermind those that know ya."

"What can I say? It's a gift." Nick shrugged as he and Finnick eyed the winded bear staring hatefully in their direction.

The red fox leaned over to his friend and nudged him playfully. "And besides, you know you love me."

"You make me sick." Finnick instantly replied.

A rueful grin pulled at Nick's lips.

The Grizzly snarled and turned to the other two mammals, who were staring daggers at the foxy pair.

"What are ya just standin' around for? Hold 'em down!"

The caribou's antlers flashed a blue light and Nick could feel the air grow drier as water was pulled from the atmosphere and settle over the caribou's hooves in a sapphire film of water. The other bear grunted and brought his claws to bear.

"Well… this is going to suck." Nick sighed. "Where's a hero when you really need one, eh?"

The grizzly grinned and rushed Nick with desperate abandon while the caribou and the black bear flanked him and beelined for Finnick.

"Back up and get some space." Nick calmly ordered. Finnick grunted and slipped towards the cooler with his bat coiled back and a mad light in his eyes.

The crash of their cooler being upended and smashed under hoof and paw vaguely registered with Nick as the distinct _whiff-crack_ of Finnick's bat striking tender flesh sounded in retaliation.

Nick bounced once on his toes before leaping inside the Grizzly's guard and fouling his sloppy swings. He bobbed under the bear's withered arms before the Ursine could trap him in a bear hug.

The fox's infuriating grin never left his face as he coiled back and lashed out with a vicious blow to the side of the bear's knee.

One blow wasn't enough though so Nick was forced to fall away from the bear's sweeping arms. He slipped back into his hobbled opponent's guard and landed blow after blow, each time the bear shook off the fox's attack until finally, he couldn't.

The grizzly buckled to one knee and threw a wild backhand at the fox, but Nick had already danced around his opponent.

The grizzly swiped at the grinning fox, confident that there was no way the small mammal could really hurt him when a half melted Pawpsicle sailed straight into his eye and stuck there like an eyepatch.

The grizzly's snarl of pain and surprise choked into a gurgle when Nick's palm lashed out for his throat. The Ursine fell onto his paws to ward off the lightheadedness out as he choked for air.

 _One down, two to-_

A wet coil wrapped around Nick's ankle and yanked the fox off his feet. Nick snorted and broke his fall before he could crack his head on the pavement.

Even though his outstretched paws landed hard there was no sound from the impact, only a thin trail of frost in his paws' wake.

The caribou laughed as he dragged Nick across the sidewalk and flicked the fox airborne. Nick watched unfazed as the black bear's claws reached up to meet him mid-flight.

Heat waves poured from Nick's paws like a stovetop.

 _No…_

He clenched his fists, dispelling the heat into the air.

 _Not here._

The bear's claws scored a nasty trail across Nick's shirt and hooked into his chest. The pain was excruciating, but nothing Nick wasn't already used to.

 _Too many bystanders._

The claws slid from his flesh with a squelch before the wounded fox smacked into the pavement.

He bounced once, the soundless impact accompanied by a grunt. When Nick came to a stop the black bear stomped on his back, pinning him in place.

Nick cracked an eye and saw Finnick pinned much like he was under a pillar of ice, his Naughty Buzzer hissing an angry red. Poor Finn must have set off his collar and the caribou pulled the ice from their cooler and encased the tiny vulpine in its chilling clutches.

Despite his intense exertions during the fight, the light on Nick's collar remained a cool green.

Nick ignored the creaking in his ribs and flicked his eyes around the busy street, hoping for a miracle.

It was bizarre, surreal in the way the city ignored the life-or-death struggle unfolding right in front of other mammals' noses.

Whatever looks the passersby sent their way were quickly averted, some accompanied by expressions of disgust or sympathy. No one in Sahara Square actually cared enough to do anything about the spectacle.

Why put your tail on the line for two foxes, let alone for two dangerous criminals clearly from the slums?

It was below anyone here to step down to help them. Nick and Finnick were the bad guys after all, let karma sort them out.

 _Fine._

A growl rose in Nick's throat. His defiant rumble quickly died into a pitiful wheeze as the black bear pressed down harder on the fox's back.

"Y-you are gonna pay for that fox."

Nick's jaw ground against the sidewalk as he turned his head and looked up at the grizzly, who had recovered from Nick's blows and tore the pawpsicle from his eye, crushing it into snowflakes.

The grizzly lifted a heel above the helpless fox and grinned.

"You should've just given us the money."

Nick never took his eyes off the bear as his foot came down. Nick was glad he hadn't, as he would have missed the stupid gaping expression of shock on the grizzly's muzzle.

A thunderous clap of power snapped through the air as arcs of yellow lightning coiled around the bear's stiffened body, before the bear keeled over stiff as a board and smacked face first into the pavement.

Nick would have burst into laughter at the dumb frown of disbelief on the thwarted mugger's face if the black bear currently using him as a stepping stool hadn't flinched and pressed almost his entire weight on the fox's ribs.

"You!" A spirited and distinctly feminine voice shouted amidst the crackle of lightning. "Stop in the name of Justice!"

The black bear squealed and bolted. Nick gasped as the weight on his back was lifted and his lungs filled with sweet, sweet air.

He was so focused on greedily gulping in oxygen that he hadn't noticed the blur of grey and yellow that sailed over his head and smashed into the caribou, who was swinging around a whip made of water.

"Well, aren't you cute?" The caribou chuckled and snapped his liquid weapon. "How about you just turn your bouncing little tail around and leave this to the proper mammals?"

"Don't. Call. Me. Cute." The female voice snarled.

All Nick saw was a flash of yellow light, accompanied by another ear-splitting roar of thunder.

Nick looked up and across the street to see every passerby staring dumb and wide-eyed in their direction.

What were they looking at? Whatever it was, Nick had to see.

Nick rolled to his back and laid eyes on his... savior?

 _A bunny?_

The fox could hardly believe his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a white cotton tail poking out of a pair of skinny jeans hugging a set of sculpted legs with muscle in all the right places. Nick tore his wandering gaze away from the little rabbit doe's admittedly eye-catching figure. It was mostly her tail, not that Nick would admit to staring at his natural prey like she was a meal in _that_ context, as scrumptious as she may seem.

He had barely registered her painfully farm girl-esque pink flannel shirt when his eyes stopped on the crackling spear of lightning humming and dancing in her paw, and the char-broiled caribou smoking on the ground a few feet in front of her.

The black bear must have squished the filter between his brain and his mouth because the first thing out of Nick's mouth was,

"Nice butt."

 _Good job Wilde, tell the pissed off girl with a pointy spear of lightning you like her ass. Real smooth criminal, that's what you are..._

The bunny's ears jerked straight and the doe spun around with a snarl, her ethereal spear crackling in her paws.

"What did you just say?" She growled in a voice that scared Nick more than the grizzly ever had.

Dare the fox say he was almost… impressed?

"I said thank you." Nick wheezed with what he hopefully thought was a disarming smile. He coughed and climbed to his feet with his paws rubbing at his throat. "That's some power you got there miss. You saved our tails."

Nick's smile faded when he caught the look of shock on the doe's face and the way she involuntarily jerked back when she saw who exactly she'd rescued for the first time.

Everything from her ears falling to her back and the way her little pink nose twitched told Nick everything he had to know.

The rabbit had meant to save an innocent mammal from a mugging- she hadn't meant to save a fox.

"Y-yeah, no problem." The doe chuckled awkwardly. She looked around for the first time at all the mammals staring at her from across the street and flushed in shame and embarrassment.

Then her eyes landed on the red collar around Nick's throat and her eyes rounded wide as saucers.

"You…" She began as her features hardened.

 _Whew boy, here we go._

Nick sighed and his eyes caught a quickly shrinking figure fleeing down the street.

Before the rabbit with the spear of lightning could say anything else Nick thrust a claw past her.

"He's getting away." He stated flatly.

The doe snapped her eyes towards the Black Bear's quickly retreating back. As soon as she realized what was happening it was like someone had flipped a switch and the rabbit's hesitant embarrassment for saving a pair of collared foxes went up in a puff of smoke and she was dashing away as her spear hummed with power.

"Hey, you! Stop!" She cried, her attention focussed solely on the fleeing black bear. "Stop in the Name of Justice!"

Nick snorted and shook his head in disbelief.

' _Stop in the name of justice'? Did she really just say that out loud in public? With a straight face!_

As soon as her attention was elsewhere Nick wasted no time and scrambled over to the block of ice encasing the lower half of his best friend.

"N-nice butt, really?" Finnick choked.

Nick frowned.

"One more word outta you and I'm going to let you defrost by your lonesome so I can go eat Manchas' curry myself."

"You wouldn't dare." The small fox growled.

Nick just smiled sweetly.

Finnick's chest strained against the pavement as he fought to free himself. A few seconds of futile struggle later and the fennec deflated in defeat.

"Fine." He grumbled. "Just get me outta here."

"What's the magic word?" Nick sang with his arms crossed over his torn and bloody chest.

"Fuck you."

"Okay," Nick shrugged and walked away, stooping down to start salvaging the wrecked remains of their cooler. "See ya later big guy! You can _chill_ with the rabbit 'til then."

"Gah! Fine, fine! Please! Please! You filthy rutting rug! Please!"

"That's the ticket," Nick chuckled.

The fox padded over to his trapped friend and flexed a paw like he was squeezing an invisible stress ball. Nick settled his paw against the column of ice and _pushed._

Steam rose up from the fox's touch and rolled off the pavement like morning mist until all that remained was a wet fennec fox on his belly and frowning up at his friend's lazy smirk.

"'Bout time." Finnick pulled himself up and shook as much water as he could from his fur.

Nick tilted his head and looked his friend over for any injuries. Fortunately, the worst of it seemed to be his wounded pride.

Nick stretched his shoulders and winced as lances of pain speared through his abused ribs and the open wounds where the black bear's claws had hooked in and ripped through muscle and flesh.

A fresh splash of warm blood trailed down his side, dyeing the front of his ruined green shirt crimson. Unsurprisingly, this reminded Nick of the need for urgency.

 _That's going to hurt in the morning…_

Nick sighed and turned back to the smashed and overturned cooler.

"Help me with this will ya? I want to make ourselves scarce by the time _Thunder Buns_ gets back."

Finnick tried, he truly did, but he couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped his lips.

Super Powers For Dummies

Page 12, "What Do The Weird Letters Mean?"

Super Powers are universally organized into "Power Classes" Ranging from the drab "Null" category to the mythical "SS" class. These classifications allow peacekeepers like our beloved Zootopian Hero Association to accurately assess a Super's potential threat to the general public.

This classification standard is not fool-proof however. There are currently over 182,000 Super Powers officially recognized by the government and the Hero Association, and even though one power may rank lower than another on the class list it gives no indication to how that power can be applied and exploited. (See Page 231, "Fire and Ice")

Super Power Classes:  
[Null] Duds, Useless  
[F] Extremely Weak  
[E] Very Weak (Average Power Level)  
[D] Weak  
[C] Potent  
[B] Strong  
[A] Formidable  
[S] Dangerous  
[SS] AVOID CONFRONTATION AT ANY COST

Zootopian Super Criminal Codex, Low Threat Watch List

Entry: Subject #3543672

Threat Assessment: F-

Action Taken: Administered Yellow Subjugation Collar to Subject. Mandatory Collared Parole, 2 Year Sentence.

-Subject File-

-Name: Finnick Lister

-Age: 31

-Species: Fennec Fox

-Mother: Nira Lister (Deceased)  
-Father: Moran Lister (Deceased)  
-Sister: Fiona Lister (Unknown)

-Power: Healing Factor [Power Class: F] [Affinity: Life (F)]  
[Power Type: Self-Heal]

Healing Factors are among the most common superpowers and for most, it is one of the weakest.

Healing factors are passive powers with no effective way to train or improve them, leaving those without specialized combat training at a severe disadvantage.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, those with a high Life affinity are nigh immortal. The truly monstrous are capable of instantly recovering from normally fatal injuries while some even possess extended lifespans as a result of their overactive healing factor.

Finnick's Healing Factor is barely considered a power at all, a step above a Dud's normal healing rate. His poor Life affinity being class F, lowest of the low, enables Finnick to recover from broken limbs and deep lacerations at less than triple the speed of other mammals.

A wound that would leave most bedridden for a month Finnick would recover from in about 10 days with the proper care.

A/N: Greetings! Untraveled here!

Whew, not going to lie, this chapter has been an exercise in writing futility.

No matter how much I look over and change there is always something I could change or better. However finally, _finally,_ I believe I have polished, trimmed, and beaten this monster of a chapter into submission to a finish I am satisfied with.

The lesson to be learned here is that sometimes fight scenes can be a right bitch, but when complete they are fun to read.

Not much plot, lots of punchy-flashy, and heaps of little details to soak up and bask in.

Ain't Fan fiction fun?

-Untraveled

Editor's Note:

-Editor HQ, North Division-

*People screaming, coffee spilling, paper flying every which way*

In the distance, a siren sounds as a terrified editor pushes his glasses further onto his nose, grasping a red rotary phone for dear life.

"Sir! Teh typos haev brokén containment!"


	3. Tundra Town Tussle

Chapter 2: Tundra Town Tussle

The ailing rays of daylight reached between the buildings like claws as they fought against the relentless march of night.

Two months later and still the majestic wonder of the Zootopian sunset left Nick speechless.

He had been finding himself awestruck by the little things more and more these days.

 _Guess I'm getting old._ He smirked at the thought, his paw unconsciously reaching up to thumb his zipper, only to find the top button of his ripped shirt once again.

 _I need a tie or something…_

Finnick hit a bump in the road and jolted Nick up in his seat. Pain shot up his side from where the bear had raked him, his nose scrunched in discomfort.

"Hey, Finn? Can you carry the crates today?"

Nick was surprised and mildly pleased his voice came out as level and cool as it did, though judging from the way the fennec fox's bat-like ears flicked in his direction Nick was sure his friend still heard the pain laced in his tone.

Finnick's eyes briefly darted from the road to give Nick's bloodstained shirt a once over before he tipped his comically large sunglasses over his snout and nodded.

"Sure, Mam. Just hold tight."

"Great. Thanks, big guy." Nick cradled an arm against his side and used his free paw to pull free a couple of wallets, coincidentally sized for a grizzly and a caribou respectfully.

Nick noticed Finnick's bat-like ears flick in his direction at the distinct slap of leather. He gave the curious fennec a sideways glance and saw his buddy's brown eyes peeking out of the side of his sunglasses.

"For the idiot tax," Nick explained.

"you're a bastard, ya know that?" Finnick cracked a small grin as Nick slipped free a crumpled stack of bills from the unknowingly donated wallets and rolled them into the cupholder on the dashboard. Nick smirked and shrugged.

"I think you forgot sly, conniving, and devilishly handsome," Nick drawled sleepily. So saying, he settled in his seat with a woozy sigh as his eyes slid closed.

"I'd say ya were full of yourself, but you seem to be leaking most of yourself all over my upholstery." Finnick grumped. Nick snorted as his closed eyes tipped up to the ceiling.

"And here I thought red was your favorite color..." He mumbled, his voice steadily fading to a whisper.

"Ya know if Honey catches you falling asleep when you're bleedin' like that she'll bring ya back from the dead just so she could kill ya again," Finnick warned. Despite his harsh baritone, Nick could hear genuine concern in his friend's voice.

"Hmm… Fine." Nick groaned and forced his eyes open. He straightened up in his seat in an effort to keep awake and slipped his smug mask in place, looking out the window as the dusk-lit cityscape rolled by through half-lidded eyes. Whether they were truly half-lidded or just droopy from exhaustion was up in the air for Finnick.

Passing through the Savannah Central climate wall tunnel, they emerged into Tundra Town in a flash of white. The heated highway road kept the snow and ice from building up on the blacktop, effectively turning the overpasses into blades of black in a world of snowy slopes and glittering ice. Finnick cranked the heater to full blast to push back the fog that puffed over the window allowing Nick to rest his cheek against the cold glass and watch the pedestrians go about their business.

Mammal watching had become his guilty pleasure since being released from prison. Upon retrospection, Nick figured it was because he had been unable to just lay back and observe other mammals for 15 years. For one the view from his cell had been terrible and looking at other inmates in the Super Pen for too long was synonymous with asking for a shank between the ribs.

Seeing normal mammals dressed in mundane clothes was still a novelty for the fox. He felt a similarly bizarre feeling every time he caught his reflection in a car's side mirror or a window. He'd fallen into the habit of doing a double take every time he spotted his lack of an orange jumpsuit.

Normal, as it turned out, was no longer _his_ normal.

15 years is a long time, long enough for most mammals to have forgotten the bombing he had been charged with. In 15 years, a lot had changed. Everything here was so familiar, yet so alien. Even though he had come to terms with the fact that much would be different while in prison it never truly struck the fox just how much the world had evolved without him.

Strangely, one of the hardest things he had to adjust to was the fact that smartphones were a thing, not the invincible Nokia phones he had used as a chock block when Finnick parked his van on a hill.

Privately though, Nick was curious about trying out one of these "selfies" he had heard so much about. Whatever those were.

Nick had thought he would be fine when he got out. He could integrate back into society, albeit with a volatile handicap strapped around his neck, and try to recover just a fraction of the years he'd lost locked away in the Super Pen.

Reality, however, had other ideas. Every day was a battle filled with discrimination based not only on his species but his kill switch, a red flag that screamed his status as a criminal for all to hear. Just living was a challenge, one that Nick found himself losing; slipping more and more each day.

 _I have no purpose. What... what am I even doing? Why am I putting myself through this hell?_

 _Why am I alive?_

Even though Nick had been thrust into a cell-locked limbo for his young adulthood, time had never stopped. The earth kept on turning, and the city he had been born and raised in had moved on. Even if Nick himself hadn't.

Most days since his return a nasty hook of anxiety would dig into the back of the ex-convict's mind, like a sour burning in the back of his throat. This burning was often accompanied by a vicious little voice seething from the cynical corner of his mind, fueling his darker thoughts.

 _This isn't your city anymore._ the little voice would hiss through the lonely ache in his heart. _You don't have a place here, you don't belong anywhere! Except down a deep, dark hole like the murderer you are._

Despite Finnick's gruff assurances to the contrary, Nick found he agreed with the voice.

Getting up in the mornings was a chore and looking into the face of the mammal he hated the most in the mirror was slowly eating away at his soul.

 _Why should I live after all the trouble and hurt I caused? I'm not worth it._

If it wasn't for the mammals that had come to depend on him in recent weeks Nick figured he would have already thrown in the towel. No family, a pawful of mammals he could somewhat trust and one childhood friend that was more of an apathetic stranger with vague school year memories from 15 years ago.

Nick had nowhere to turn to, no den to call his own. At least in prison, he knew his place, both as a part the system and in the cell where he could lay his head to rest.

Here in the real world, however, Nicholas Wilde con-fox and friendly neighborhood problem-solver was lost.

The fox's nose bumped roughly against the passenger side door handle, jerking him awake. Nick had been slipping off into oblivion without even realizing it.

 _The blood loss is hitting me harder than I thought. Gotta stay awake. Gotta stay awake._

The red fox sucked in a deep breath, expanding his chest as he inhaled in an effort to wake himself up, only to instantly regret it. his expanding chest pulled the ragged gashes in his side, tearing whatever scabs had begun to form and eliciting a fresh wave of blood to trickle down the sodden tracks of his crimson-stained fur and soak into his already badly stained shirt.

A whimper slipped from his lips as he pressed his paw over the wound to try and stem the flow.

Finnick glanced over with clear concern on his muzzle, his hazel eye dipping to balk at the blood spilled all over his passenger seat. It looked bad, though he figured it mustn't have been as bad as it looked. Still... Finnick gripped the steering wheel a little tighter and reluctantly opened his muzzle.

"Do... do ya need me to get ya to a-"

"No." Nick growled, cutting off the fennec so fast it was as if he had read the small fox's mind. With a visible effort Nick straightened himself in his seat and stuffed his agony behind his mask of indifference.

"No Hospitals. They ask too many questions, and if my parole officer hears about it I'm going right back to the Super Pen and I'll never see the light of day again."

"Aight, aight." Finnick smacked the steering wheel in frustration. "I was just askin'. Ya keep making sounds like your dyin' over there."

"Sorry," Nick mumbled, turning his head back to stare out the window into the winter wonderland rolling by underneath the highway overpass below and watching the mammals down below to keep his mind off the stabbing pain lancing through his flank.

Just seeing other mammals without shock collars was a strange enough experience. Seeing them smile or laugh without restraint even more so.

Down below the highway Nick spotted a family of reindeer, the parents and two little does, dancing about in a snow bank with wide grins on their muzzles as they pummeled each other in an impromptu snowball fight next to the iceberg river as business suit-clad commuters rode the current on the frozen platforms. the little does' smiles were so vibrant and bright Nick could swear he could almost hear their laughter from the overpass.

10 more years. Just 10 more years and his collared parole would finally be over.

 _In 10 years, I'll be 40…_ Nick thought sadly. _I'm going to go gray before I can make a face like that again without this rutting kill switch going off._

The downtrodden vulpine vaguely recognized Finnick pulling off the overpass and onto an off-ramp before nimbly gliding into a bulk foodstuffs supplier. Finnick yanked the van into park and swiped his seatbelt off. he kicked the door open and threw a mildly concerned look over his shoulder.

"I'll be fast," the fennec boomed in his comically deep voice. He held his paw out and flicked his fingers. "Gimme the cash."

"Thanks, big guy." Nick thumbed the unwillingly donated bills over to his friend. Once Finnick was out and threw the door closed Nick settled back in his seat to stare at the peeling paint on the brick building they were parked next to.

True to his word Finnick was in and out in just a few minutes with a couple of reused cardboard boxes as large as he was balanced in his arms and a brown and white furred mastiff in a faded blue worker uniform following behind him.

Finnick kicked open the back of the van and slid the boxes in before pulling the back door closed and padding over the carpeted interior of his van and into the driver's seat.

The mastiff's puffy fur made it difficult to tell but he seemed to flash both foxes a smile before waving them off and disappearing back into his office.

"Floofle-mon seems to be in good spirits," Nick commented as Finnick jerked the van out of the parking lot and back onto the highway overpass.

Finnick snorted and rolled his eyes. "I ain't gonna save ya when Palamon sits on your scrawny tail 'cuz he heard that stupid nickname ya gave him."

"Nah, he loves me!" The red fox threw a flaunting arm in the air in a comical swoon. "I am irresistible after all."

"Is that what they called ya in prison," Finnick asked as a wicked grin split his lips. "Tell me, was that before or after you dropped the soap?"

"Sorry to disappoint ya big guy, but I'm a pitcher, not a catcher."

Nick trilled in evil laughter at the aghast look of horror on Finnick's face. Once he calmed down and sat back in his seat with a strangely conflicted expression, Nick looked out the window and added in a subdued voice.

"In all seriousness, It's not that funny on the receiving end Finn. It's… not something you should really joke about."

"Oh." The breath caught in Finnick's throat. He glanced at his friend, but his eyes were turned away in thinly veiled shame.

Nick swallowed thickly and rested his head against the back of his seat, still avoiding eye contact with his only childhood friend while he looked for something- anything- to break this awkward and tense silence. The digital clock caught his attention.

"Mind if I turn on the radio?" Nick mumbled.

Finnick grunted his assent and without taking his eyes from the road pointed a claw at Nick. "Just the knob bub. You touch anythin' else and I bite-"

"- My face off. Yessir." Nick punched the dial and rolled through the local radio stations. Most of the chatter was just irritating commercials but eventually, a familiar news anchor's quirky babbling chirped over the van's aging speakers.

 _-on the day of his 10_ _th_ _anniversary of joining the ranks of the Zootopian Hero Association! Due to the damage sustained during the battle with A-Class Supervillain Shadow-Pulse both Tujunga Street and the upper canopy Sky tram were deemed unsafe. Chief Mori of Precinct 3 advises residents to take alternate routes home until repairs are completed._

"That sucks." Nick commented in bland sympathy. "Guess Manchas is going to be hating life for a while getting home."

Finnick grunted his agreement as both fox's ears flicked back to the radio.

 _Thankfully due to his selfless and noble heroism,_ Robin Hood _has-_

Nick's ears snapping to attention and his sharp intake of breath didn't escape Finnick, who also jolted a little in his seat. The fennec shot a concerned glance over to his partner and found the red fox's emerald eyes intensely attempting to burn a hole into his radio.

 _-successfully defeated and apprehended Shadow-Pulse and placed him in ZHA custody. In other news the ZHA recruiting season has officially closed with 19 fresh-faced Heroes entering the ZHA's ranks, including Zootopia's first bunny hero, Judy Hopps…_

Nick's interest waned and his focus drifted as the news anchor rattled off the early afternoon headlines. A subtle frown curled his sharp muzzle. With his focus on the interesting headlines, he temporarily forgot the throbbing pain in his side.

He turned back to watch Tundra Town pass him by as Finnick rounded a turn that brought them into the bay area. Even with the windows up the pungent stench of fish and salt leaked into the van. Worn and rusted warehouses rose up on their left and beyond them was the channel that fed into the salt marsh and the sea that surrounded Zootopia.

Though he had never seen it for himself Nick was told the ride into the city was truly one to behold, like a glittering jewel rising from the surface of a glittering sea of sapphire blue.

Speak of the devil. Just as he was thinking about it a large poster of the coastline with the city in the background peeked from around a large shipping yard next to the warehouses with the city's motto displayed in brazen golden letters.

' _Zootopia: The City of Heroes'_ It read.

"City of Heroes indeed," Nick intentionally scoffed out loud.

"Ya say somethin'?" Finnick asked, an eyebrow crooked over the rim of his sunglasses.

"Just thinking out loud," the red fox replied. "I just find it disgusting that they boast that we live in the City of Heroes only because villains here are a dime-a-dozen."

Finnick rolled his eyes.

"Haw come on. It ain't _that_ bad."

An ear-splitting, earth-shaking explosion pounded Finnick's van and rocked the heated highway road like it was a flexible strip of taffy.

"OH SHIT!" Finnick screamed, throwing the wheel to the side as the van skipped across the rippling blacktop. Nick remained uncharacteristically mute, mostly because he was too busy being thrown against the passenger side door and digging his claws into the seat for dear life as the van wildly spun and skidded down the road.

Despite his best efforts, the brush painted van smashed into the concrete side rail. The impact crumpled one side of the boxy vehicle and lifted the van off its tires.

The van balanced on the side rail for a few heart-pounding seconds that seemed to stretch into an eternity. It was only by an act of God the van didn't roll over the side rail into the city below.

With a low groan, the van tipped and slammed back onto its wheels with a violent and cringe-worthy crash as the suspension bottomed out and the undercarriage smacked into the blacktop with a painful crack. Both foxes caught air and smashed back into their seats. Finnick's shock collar went from green and straight to red electrocuting the hapless fennec in a low popping zap.

Nick's collar dipped to yellow for a moment as he struggled to keep conscious through the incredible lances of agony racing through his back and his wounded side. A piteous moan of pain escaped from him as he sunk back with his eyes closed and held his side.

Finnick was the first to recover once his collar beeped back to green, the shock left his fur sticking out in odd angles.

"F-fuckin' hell." Finnick gasped. His poor tail crimped when he landed on it. "What was that?"

"MWAHAHAHA!"

A nasally cackling laugh, straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon, echoed out through the devastated cityscape.

Nick and Finnick craned their necks as another explosion rocked the overpass. Out towards the bay area a decrepit warehouse roof buckled, and a geyser of snow erupted from its depths with a maniacally laughing moose dressed in a billowing white trench coat riding at its peak.

The mad herbivore clutched a strange pistol looking weapon with tubes trailing to a backpack as he swung around a remote in his other hoof. His antlers were shaved off near the base allowing the bull to hide his face behind a hooded environmental mask.

The bull pointed his pistol down towards the street below and when he pulled the trigger a supercooled beam of blue energy cleaved through the air and flash-froze whatever was in its path in a shower of ice.

A blue blur flew from the street and spun in mid-air, dodging the freezing beam by a hairsbreadth before landing gracefully on the edge of the decimated warehouse's roof.

A medium-sized feline clad in a skin-tight blue suit strapped with all manner of devices and armor hooked a claw up at the moose.

"This is the end of the line for you _Deep-Freeze!_ " The blue-suited feline declared. "You're coming with me, so we can do this the easy way, or _my_ way!"

The moose aimed his freeze ray down at the geyser of snow below him and blasted the slowly collapsing structure into a glittering solid statue before sweeping his arms out wide, his white trench coat billowing behind him.

"Mwahahaha! My such bold words my dear _Azure!"_ The super-villain scoffed. "Mighty bold words indeed, when I have the entirety of Tundra Town at my mercy!"

The bull laughed as he brandished his remote and clicked a button. Nick could just make out Azure's eyes go wide behind her blue mask. The red fox pressed his back against his seat and dug his claws into the fabric as his own eyes bugged out and his pupils shrank in terror.

"Oh shit."

Nick's world turned white as a third explosion ripped through his body as a plume of snow and debris kicked up into the sky and rolled over the van. For a single breath, the world stood still-

-then the van jerked as the overpass beneath them gave.

It took Nick a couple seconds to process what that give meant. His eyes flew open as adrenaline surged through his veins.

"THE OVERPASS!" Nick screamed in panic, startling Finnick half to death. "WHATEVER THAT EDGY YAK FROST WANNABE JUST BLEW UP IS CAUSING THE OVERPASS TO GO!"

"Fuckin' Hell!" Finnick boomed and stomped on the gas, only to find his trusty van dead in the water. "FUCKIN" HELL!"

"I heard ya the first two times!" Nick shouted over the moose's mad laughter. "Just crank it again! HURRY!"

A slow moan and a sharp cracking sound rushed the frantic fennec into action. The small fox leaned into the key, but the ignition sputtered and refused to turn the engine over.

"Come on, come on!" Finnick begged. "You can do it, baby!"

Despite his uncharacteristic cooing the van's ignition clicked and whined but never caught.

"Shit!" Finnick snarled and let off the keys.

The highway beneath them shuddered and both foxes found themselves hooking their claws into their seats as the road came out from beneath them and the van smacked back down onto its undercarriage again. Nick could see the highway in front of them bent at a precarious angle as the portion of overpass they were stalled on was rapidly giving way.

He found himself a little impressed that roads could even bend like that, but the thick cracks opening in the bending black-top right in front of him cut his introspective musing short.

"I got an idea!"

"Comin' from you Red, that could only mean somethin' stupid." Finnick unhooked from his seat and desperately threw his entire body into turning the key in the ignition. "Whatever ya plan on doin', it better be now!"

"Aight, hold tight." Nick threw open the door and jumped out of the van as Finnick whipped around and yelled after him.

"WHAT ARE YA DOIN'?!"

"Something stupid!"

Nick hit the blacktop and bit back the cry of agony as his wounds jolted from the impact.

The screams of fleeing bystanders and that damned moose's laughter hit Nick like a fist, sending his head spinning for a moment as he tried to reorient himself.

A high pitched whine at the edge of the blearing moan of scattering mammals made him duck on reflex. Nick looked up to the sky and balked as a swarm of drones with buzzing propeller engines zipped through the air towards the battling hero and villain like moths to a flame. Nick turned his head away from the little flying machines in an effort to hide his face.

 _News Drones. great. I gotta get out of here before one notices me and gets a little too curious._

The road cracked and moaned as it began to tilt from the crumbling supports underneath. His legs felt like jelly and his paws trembled like a leaf in a hurricane. Nick just hoped it was from the adrenaline and not the blood loss.

The fox scampered around the van and pressed a paw against the van's steaming hot tailpipe.

"Come on, you can do this." Nick took a few rapid breaths to psych himself up. "Pull, just pull."

Nick let out a long, slow breath and closed his eyes to calm his racing heart.

The screams and sounds of those costumed nuts battling it out slipped away, the steady beat of his struggling heart drowning out the world.

The darkness behind his eyelids helped to center himself before focusing on the scalding hot tailpipe in his paw.

Then he _pulled._

A rush of heat raced up his arm as the metal pipe in his grasp turned cold. The heat poured into his chest and wrestled and roared in his blood.

Nick let go of the frosted over tailpipe and braced his paws against the van's bumper.

"PUT IT IN NEUTRAL!" He roared.

Nick heard the gearbox thunk and the van began to roll back onto him. the fox poured the raging heat from his core into his limbs and impossibly the van halted its descent and ever so slowly began to crawl up the crumbling incline.

A feral roar ripped from the fox's throat as his coiled muscles bulged and strained. The heat he had absorbed had burned up fast, too fast. He wasn't going to make it in time.

 _More! I need more!_

Nick's mind raced for a solution as the heat puttered out, leaving the fox exhausted just a couple steps up the warm blacktop-

 _The blacktop! The highways in Tundra Town are heated!_

Nick closed his eyes and desperately reached for the still warm sensation beneath his footpads. The heating elements were no doubt compromised by the crumbling road but there seemed to be enough residual heat for him to use.

 _If it's not, then I'll have to make due._ Nick hardened his resolve and with a mental snarl, he _pulled._

Like an open sluice gate was thrown open a flood of heat rushed up his limbs towards his chest, unlike the tailpipe however the heated road's flow only deepened, turning what was once a trickle into a roaring river of power.

A jolt of fear stabbed into the pit of Nick's stomach as the fire in his blood thrashed and bucked, pushing at his control, unlike anything he had experienced before. He wildly pumped the heat from his chest and within seconds his muscles screamed as visible waves of heat poured off on his red fur like an oven.

It hurt, the heat boiled his blood and scorched his insides, but his insane gambit seemed to have paid off.

The small red fox took a step forward.

The van felt lighter, the strain in his screaming muscles lessened, even as the fire's thrashing teeth sank into his veins again and again with every beat of his burning heart.

He didn't even notice as his shredded green shirt burst into flames as his shorts began to blacken and curl at the edges

One step became two, then Nick was racing up the crumbled incline, leaving his paw prints melted into the blacktop behind him.

Finnick let out a whoop of triumph from the driver's seat.

"I dunno what you're doin' Red! But don't stop!"

"CRANK IT!" Nick screamed as he gave on last monstrous shove and the van tipped over the sagging road and onto level ground.

Finnick leaned into the ignition but the clicking engine still refused to bite.

"GIMME ANOTHER PUSH!" He roared. Finnick yelped as he was thrown back into his seat as the van went skidding across the blacktop.

The tiny fox pushed himself up and lunged for the ignition. The rolling van's engine clicked and finally caught. Finnick stomped the gas and the van roared to life. Finnick let out another whoop as the back door was yanked open and Nick threw himself inside.

"DRIVE!" The red fox choked as he slammed the back door closed behind him.

"Ya don't gotta tell me twice!" Finnick cranked the van into drive and gunned it down the overpass as the road behind them buckled and collapsed with a dull roar into the frozen cityscape below.

A wild cackle ripped from Finnick's lips as they peeled away from the destruction. His collar flickered yellow and chirped threateningly. Thankfully the fennec got a hold of himself before he set it off.

"Whew! By the tips of our whiskers, eh Red!" Finnick exclaimed.

"Red?"

Finnick looked over his shoulder and his collar chirped back to yellow at the limp red fox who had collapsed face down in the carpet; wisps of smoke trailing from his burnt clothes and cooling body.

...

" _Nick_?"

BEGIN RECORD

Case File #SC7834R11

Background Brief: #1  
Subject: Nicholas *[^+=)&~`ERROR#& (&!?]*  
Officer Investigating: Officer Morgan Howlington  
Date: March 11th 2001

Background Brief Summary: Red Fox (Vulpes, Vulpes). 15 years old. Freshman at Happytown High school. Lived with formally estranged mother until she was killed in the bombing. Documented delinquent with numerous incidents both in school and in the streets, several where police were involved, though never was arrested.

Documented Power is Temperature adjustment, Dud grade. The boy couldn't even make an ice cream sweat in summer.

Method of surviving the bombing is unknown, though during the course of my investigation I began to question just how accurate the subject's *^_#(ERROR/.:'~"*#&?.]\\+=-* really is.

Evidence at the scene sugges- *"}?"#$ &ERROR*%()_$* - to confirm.

END RECORD

A/N: Man, Nick just can't seem to catch a break. Seems the poor guy keeps on _burning himself out_.

That was my one free pun for the season. The next will cost ya extra! Kudos and comments are accepted, terrible jokes and curious questions are preferred.

If you haven't read my other work then you may not be overly familiar with the trail of bread crumbs I leave behind throughout the chapters, like what did Finnick do to get his naughty-buzzer? Or what's in those boxes?

Betcha a Pawpsicle you can't guess. Prove me wrong, I dare you. Lol

Until Next Time!

-Untraveled

Editor's Note:

Gah, I never get pawpsicles! You folks are lucky.

I'm afraid I had to take a little extra time editing this one, as things kept popping up on the RL side o' things. That is until I had _a fire lit under me_ to get me working again, of course.

It was rather convenient really, as focusing on editing let me forget that Canada is in the midst of _deep-freeze_ at the moment. As much as I love winter, I hate this kind of cold with a _burning passion_.

 _Ahem, pun counter if you'd please._

Editor: 3 | Author: 1

And so begins my evil plan to inflate the pun market, _muahahaha!_


	4. What The Fox Dragged In

Chapter 3: What The Fox Dragged In

" _Happytown is a broken, filthy cesspool for the shunned, wretched, and lost."_ The red fox had once told her. " _But that doesn't mean we can't try to be better, to try to find the lost, to welcome the shunned, and to comfort the wretched."_

" _Just because everyone else doesn't want you -rejects you- doesn't mean I do."_

That was the day Honey Badgenton, failed med-student, reformed drug addict, and borderline homeless squatter was reunited with her high school classmate and former punching bag- Nick Wilde.

Who knew the rage-filled Dud she had bullied back in high school would come out of prison with a heart of gold and a spine of steel; not to mention muscles, though Honey would never admit that out loud. She had a reputation to keep after all.

Honey was stout, even for a honey badger, though until relatively recently she had not been this way. For the past few years, she had fallen on hard times, ending up severely malnourished. Since Nick had convinced her to start working in the Happytown Homeless Shelter, however, she had gained back much of her lost body mass. Now her old "Rolling Bones" band shirt fit like a shirt again, instead of hanging off of her shoulders like she was a coat rack, not to mention her camouflage shorts fit snug on her hips once again.

The thought of her first meeting with her new boss still brought a small grin to her face. Upon walking in behind Nick to ask for a job, the first thing Mr. Manchas said upon seeing the red fox and the honey badger was, "Well, look what the fox dragged in!"

Five minutes and a couple of superficial questions later, Honey found herself dropped immediately into the madness that was the Happytown Homeless Shelter. And despite her constant complaints to the contrary, she loved every second of it.

The striped badger's gaze slipped to the large window over her place behind the Happytown Homeless Shelter reception desk, her eyes glazed over and her mind lost in thought.

The last fledgling rays of the waning sun poured through Zootopia's largest crumbling and neglected slum. The setting sun's ailing light tinged the faded asphalt and cracked gray sidewalk in mesmerizing hues of orange and yellow.

But as twilight's grasp on the city waned and the long shadows hidden away by the dark of night came out to play an unsettling cold that had little to do with the season seeped into the bones of Happytown's denizens.

Even from her view out of the window Honey could already count a number of unsavoury nocturnal individuals slipping from their daylight abodes to wander the night-shrouded street across the Happytown Homeless Shelter's parking lot.

A parking lot that was still missing a certain van and its two fox occupants.

"What. Is. _Taking._ Them. So. Long?" She snarled under her breath. The pissed ratel's beady eyes narrowed as a ratty growl gurgled up her throat.

The squeaking groan of an overused and abused office chair spinning on its axis yanked away the badger's attention. Honey glowered at the old chestnut horse leaning back in his chair next to her, his eyes glued to a tiny box TV sitting on the counter facing him. The older equine had a surly grin on his grayed muzzle, his hooves clasped over his pot-belly.

When Honey glanced at the TV show the horse was watching she struggled not to gag.

 _[Welcome to another thrilling segment of "Hero Watch"!]_

The sinfully attractive snow leopardess on the grimy little TV screen chirped. Even though the Feline News Anchor was still seated behind her desk her body seemed to vibrate with boundless energy. The old horse's eyes traced the young feline's figure eagerly, almost like a predator would look at a fish dinner.

"Eye candy" was perhaps the most appropriate way to describe the spotted feline in the sharp business suit. According to Nick, "blow-up sex doll" was perhaps more accurate.

Just the sort of mammal Marge Honey Badgenton hated.

As if to prove the pissy Honey badger's point the snow Leopard bounced from her seat and leaned over her desk while conveniently pressing her unrealistically bountiful chest against the hardwood at just the right angle for the camera to catch a fair amount of cleavage between her partially unbuttoned blouse.

 _[Just when we thought there has been enough excitement for one day in the City of Heroes, after the exciting confrontation between the Famous A-Class Fox Hero Robin Hood and the dastardly Wolf A-Class Villain Shadow-Pulse another battle between good and evil broke out in the freezing snowdrifts and icy spires of Tundra Town!]_

Without skipping a beat the feline's upbeat and enticing tone dipped dangerously close to a husky purr as her green eyes bored through the television screen with a borderline shadow of lust dancing in her eyes.

" _For ratings, of course."_ A certain red fox had once sagely drawled. He pissed her off too, both because of how accurate he usually was, and the fact that the infuriating vulpine was _late!_

 _[Not half an hour ago a plot against the state by B-Class Villain Deep-Freeze was thwarted by Up and coming C-Class Lynx Hero Azure! Even now the brave Feline Heroine is battling the frigid terror-]_

Glancing to her right the frowning ratel saw her horse co-worker sitting behind the reception desk with her, the stupid male's eyes glued shamelessly to the tiny box TV, or more accurately the tantalizing show of the snow leopard's assets on its screen.

"Turn that scat off, Greg," Honey growled at the horse. "If you want to stroke it off to her do it on your own time."

The horse tore his eyes away from the TV, curled his lip and let out a snort. He looked as if he was going to just blow her off but after he caught the honey badger impatiently tapping her unsheathed claws on the desk, he quickly clicked the TV off, but not without muttering one final parting shot.

"Alright, alright! Just 'cuz your ovaries are gettin' in a twist over your pelt being late don't mean you gotta take it out on me…"

"What was that?" Honey's claws screeched into the cheap laminated desktop. Greg choked a little and turned his eyes away. "That's what I thought," the badger sneered, tugging her claws free.

"Excuse me?"

Honey looked up to see a Tigress slip in through the front door just as they closed with a soft jingle. A small jolt of fear prodded her side as the jungle cat drew up to the desk, making even Greg seem small in comparison.

From Honey's experience cats were either graceful or chubby. _This_ cat fit neither category. Thick cords of muscle straining against her blue hoodie, her thick arms cutting sharp angles through the fabric, and her modest chest(for a tiger) was undercut by her large shoulders and tight abs.

In short, this tigress was _jacked_.

Only her sleek facial features, oddly handsome muzzle, and short ears were familiarly feline.

 _Butch._ Was the only word the came to Honey's mind.

Her blue slacks reminded Honey of a uniform of some sort, the rough material pressed straight even through the web of wrinkles creased at her joints. The point of a blue collar poking out of the nape of her hoodie reinforced her guess that the tigress was wearing some kind of uniform.

"Yes?" Honey straightened in her seat and tried to plaster on her best sales-rep smile. Nick said it just made her look constipated.

The tigress looked a bit nervous, glancing around the worn brick walls and scratched tile floors with an uncertain light in her eyes. She scratched the back of her head and stepped up to the desk, placing a paw on the counter with her eyes still roving the room.

"I'm looking for someone, a friend." The tigress admitted, finally meeting Honey's eyes. "Last I heard he was staying here."

Honey dropped her forced smile, a serious frown replacing it.

"I'm afraid I can't help you." The badger crossed her arms, her eyes hardening at the protest on the tigress' lips.

"Look I know that you probably don't usually do this kinda stuff but I'm just worried about him-"

"Sure." Honey scoffed. "Sorry, unless the tenant gives express permission to give out his information then I can't help you. Keeps the creeps and the abusive dickwads at bay." Honey leaned back in her chair and looked down her muzzle at the disappointed tigress.

"Okay." The tigress' ear flattened behind her head, her tail drooping behind her. Then she a had a thought and her tail swished up. "I-if you can't tell me if he is here or not then can I just leave a message with you? Please?"

Honey sighed and rolled her eyes but relented and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen. "I guess." She slid the paper across the desk and the tigress perked up, taking the pen and starting to scribble down her message.

"Who's the message going to?" Honey asked after a beat of silence.

"Oh, uh. A f-"

A blast like a gunshot jolted Honey from her seat, Greg whinnied in fear and toppled behind the desk in a gangly heap.

The tigress flinched and looked behind her out the window, her fists clenched and her tail bristled. Her striped fur shifted. Starting at her nose and ending her tail the orange and black fur hardened into pale, stone-like spikes as she dropped back into a tense fighting stance.

Honey's eyes widened as she watched a familiar van jump the curb with a cloud of black smoke billowing in its wake, its entire passenger side crumpled and the windshield cracked. The van bounced off the asphalt and skid to a stop in a parking spot near the front door.

"What the hell are those pelts doing?!" Greg snarled. Finnick's van backfired again in reply before the hardy and abused vehicle sputtered and died.

Honey would have slugged the horse for that remark, but Honey wasn't listening. She was too busy staring in shock at the smouldering red fox slumped against Finnick's shoulder.

The small fennec kicked the front door in, his monstrous bass of a voice shaking the dust from the ceiling.

"HONEY!" Finnick roared, half-dragging his partner inside. "GIT YOUR TAIL OVER HERE!"

Like a switch being flipped the badger snapped out of her shock and practically flew over the front desk.

"Shut the hell up Finn! I Heard ya the first time!" She shouted. Finnick's head snapped in her direction and he sagged in relief, his small body shaking from exhaustion. "What in blazes happened to you two?!" Honey half-yelled as she pulled some of Nick's weight from the desert fox's shoulders.

The singed and bleeding fox between them jerked at Honey's touch, nearly scaring both mammals out of their fur.

"Finn's fault…" Nick coughed. "Terrible driver, can't seem to… reach the brake pedal."

"Well, it can't be that bad if his terrible sense of humour is intact." Honey sighed and ran her paws over his chest, her paws coming free with a slick splash of blood and burnt fur. Biting back a whimper she pressed her paw back against his chest and a gentle green glow spread from her fingers, her power stemmed the flow of thick crimson, though his torn wounds and oddly deformed ribs remained unchanged.

"He needs help." Finnick urged in an uncharacteristically serious tone. "He's hurt bad."

"No. Hospitals." Nick growled.

"Red, I can only do so much," Honey urged soothingly. "We don't want you to die just because you're being stubborn!"

With a considerable effort, Nick craned his head up and shot Honey a fiery glare.

"I said no hosp…." Nick's eyes trailed past Honey to the tigress over her shoulder. "…Ah."

Honey and Finnick jerked their heads around as a tall and handsome black panther in gray suspenders and a white dress shirt burst through one of the atrium doors, his caramel eyes flicking around in a panic and his deep purring voice cracking a little. "What's happening?! I heard gunshots!"

"Mr. Manchas?" Honey murmured.

The panther's eyes trailed from Finnick and Honey to the tigress until ending up on Nick, where his expression morphed into reluctant understanding. This prompted every mammal in the room to turn around and stare at the beat-up red fox nervously smirking up at the tigress like she had just caught him with his paw in the cookie jar.

"Nicky?" The tigress choked hoarsely, her terrified gaze taking in the burnt scraps of cloth hanging from his shredded and bloodied chest.

" _Nicky?"_ Honey and Finnick echoed, both mammals staring at the red fox as a sheepish smile spread over his pain-stricken face.

"H-hey Nattie. Long time no s-see." His casual smirk upstaged by his collar softly beeping yellow.

"Dammit, Nick." Manchas slapped his head, dragged his paw down his snout and sighed. "Not _another one._ "

-Name: Marge Honey Badgenton

-Age: 31

-Species: Honey Badger

-Mother: Sucre Badgenton  
-Father: Pimento Badgenton

-Power: Vitality Acceleration (Power: C)  
Not to be confused with Healing powers, Vitality Acceleration uses the victim's own bodily reserves to expedite the healing process.

Technically a destructive ability Vitality acceleration on an emaciated victim could easily result in the victim's death as during the rapid healing process the victim's organs and muscles would be devoured from lack of other nutrients.

However when utilized by trained professionals Vitality Acceleration can prove to be a lifesaver, closing wounds that would otherwise be fatal. Additionally, individuals with this power are capable of strengthening freshly set broken bones, cutting the patient's recovery time by dividends; making this otherwise unimpressive and lacklustre C-Class power a highly valuable asset.

A/N: Long time no see!

So to keep it short and simple, I'd like to apologize for the sloth-like updates on Not A Hero. Writer's block is hitting me hard and I'm slogging through it. (I've rewritten this chapter 7 times alone, i.e. beating my head against the metaphorical wall until my brain and keyboard decided to grudgingly cooperate.)

It's a short update, but one I'm content with. The next chapter will be easier (I hope) and will quickly get the ball rolling! I'm excited!

On another exciting note, I've decided to avoid another writer's block by reigniting my work on ZCOM! It should help with keeping my creative juices flowing instead of stagnating like I had been this past month. My motivation is still there (I splurged out a one-shot in my Bits and Pieces series in just a few hours after all. ZCOM fans, check it out.) so it's not because I can't write, I'm just lacking definitive direction as an author. Working in different genres with separate thought processes and POV's will help in the creative process and make things fun.

See Y'all Soon!

-Untraveled

Editor's Note:

Editing this chapter was a tonne of fun, which reminds me of something I don't think I've said yet. Thank you Untravelled for this opportunity! You do good work and I'm glad to be a part of it.

Now, as a ZCOM fan myself… awwwwwww yeaaaaah. I can't wait to get my typo smiting hands on that.

Wir sehen uns!


	5. Little Rabbit In the Big City

Chapter 4: Little Rabbit in the Big City

"Name."

"Um, I was here this morning? I just graduated from the ZHA Public Defender Exam?"

"Name, miss?"

A tiny huff of annoyance slipped from her lips. "Judy Hopps."

" _Full_ Name."

"Judith Laverne Hopps." The words came out as more of a growl.

Not that a cute little bunny growl would impress the terribly dull looking female Capybara staring down her huge snout through a pair of thick bottle bottom glasses. Super Power or not it was difficult to feel intimidated by a rabbit barely a tenth of your weight, especially some country bumpkin in pink flannel.

Said country bumpkin's padless foot was currently pitter-pattering off the cold tile floor with arms crossed and ears flicking in badly concealed irritation as the large rodent drew up the sworn statement with a painful slowness Judy swore was deliberate.

Her frustration was enough to test her Power's control sending yellow arcs of electricity jumping between her rigid black tipped ears like an arc ladder.

Turns out when a Super fight breaks out in broad daylight in downtown Zootopia and neither party involved is a Super registered with the ZHA Public Defender program all parties are detained for questioning. Fortunately for Judy, her heroic intervention between the foxes and the three muggers was witnessed by dozens of passersby.

She had been given a ride to the Zootopia Police Department next door and she had to give a statement there before being released to the ZHA for a second statement.

The reason being that though she had fought to save defenceless mammals she had still acted without a Public Defender License and use of Super Powers to do harm without a License was illegal.

Illegal use of Super Powers were grounds for being accused of Vigilantism, a fate even worse than being branded a villain. The only thing more dangerous than a bad guy is a misguided and uncontrollable hero, after all.

If Judy was convicted of Vigilantism, her career as a Hero would end before it could even have the chance to begin.

Thankfully the ZPD supported her actions, violent use of Powers or not, and reassured her that she would be fine.

Hopefully.

The bunny glanced over her shoulder towards the massive windows that made up the front reception center of the Zootopian Hero Association headquarters. She noted that night had officially fallen over the City of Heroes and scowled.

 _I've already been stuck here for two hours!_

Just that morning Judy had walked through those same very front glass doors practically vibrating with nerves and excitement, along with a couple hundred Hero hopefuls. The bunny remembered this front reception area being packed to the brim with mammals of all shapes, sizes and powers just earlier that day.

Now though, there was hardly a soul in sight in the cavernous expanse of the ZHA's foyer. A circular front area with over six floors hugging the curved walls with stairs and elevators of every size connecting them. It gave the interior a fluid, natural look not unlike standing inside a canyon. The ZPD building she just came from was very similar in design, though notably smaller and less awe-inspiring.

With how exciting the start of her day had been, Judy was in high spirits. When she stepped off the train and into the City of Heroes for the first time, the little bunny doe was practically bursting at the seams with joy. She was so close to achieving her dream she could practically _taste_ it.

Of course, now all she tasted was the inside of her cheek and the sour frown on her lips.

Nothing kicks a bunny awake from her dream like a mountain of stressful paperwork.

 _This is not how I imagined ending my first day in Zootopia._ The little rabbit internally grumbled. _Just goes to show what happens when you stick your neck out for a couple of low-life criminals. Won't make that mistake again._

The metallic tap from the Capybara setting her pen down had Judy's head snapping back to face the older mammal behind her desk.

The rodent receptionist looked up from her desk and anticipation welled up in Judy's chest.

 _Are we done?_

Amethyst eyes zeroed in on the Capybara's potato-shaped muzzle as her mouth opened with agonizing sloth-like speed, the tension killing the frustrated bunny even as her ears perked up in hope-

"Age?" The bespectacled rodent droned.

-only to find that hope dashed against the impregnable rocks of bureaucracy. Her ears wilted and her shoulder sagged in resignation, a long-suffering sigh escaping her lips.

 _This is not how I imagined my first day in Zootopia would go at all._

 _This… This is all that FOX's fault!_

 **(Earlier that day. Mid-morning.)**

Judy Hopps liked to think of herself as a tough bunny, and by many accounts she was. In her mind, not a lot scared her.

Being rated an A-class Super at the tender age of 9 may have had something to do with her un-bunny-like fearlessness, though even before her power had manifested she was an adventurous kit with a bold streak.

She had big dreams after all! Little Judy Hopps didn't have time to be meek and hesitant. She knew what she wanted and nothing in the world was going to stop her, not even that scary old otter that lived in that creepy cabin down by the river.

What did she want?

 _"_ _I'm going to be a Superhero!"_

The faces her poor parents made was a combination of disbelief and amusement, followed naturally by gentle admonishment.

"Oh, honey…" Her mother had sighed. "You were always our little trier. But there are no bunny superheroes. It's dangerous."

"That's right!" Her father gushed, a thumb hooked in a loop of his overalls and his other wrapped in young Judy's tiny paw. "Besides, all us bunnies have are weak powers, good for farming! Don't you want to be safe and sound and stay here to help your family?"

"Nope!"

Even then, little 8-year-old Judy Hopps hadn't been afraid, not even of her parents. She had a goal, and she was prepared to do whatever it took to reach it. A year later, soon after she turned 9, was when it happened.

The day her powers manifested and the terrible incident that followed. It served both as a lesson in restraint for the little bunny doe and the first step in her 13-year-long battle towards her kithood dream.

After enduring 13 years of brutal training under the tutelage of a retired Superhero, Judy thought nothing could scare her. She had toppled rhinos with a flick of her wrist! She could turn a forest into a sea of fire in seconds! She was a virtual demi-goddess among lapines! What could possibly scare her?

… Stairs, apparently.

Or more specifically the steps leading up to the front door of the legendary ZHA headquarters.

An icy, paralyzing jolt of nerves, unlike anything that Judy Hopps had ever experienced or imagined before rippled down her body. She could barely breathe as apprehension grew like a painful tumour against the inside of her spine and squeezed the air from her lungs, leaving her light-headed and woozy.

For the first time in a very long time the all-mighty Judy Hopps was frozen in fear.

 _I have to do this! I have mammals depending on me!_

Despite her inner monologue the little gray bunny's limbs refused to cooperate, her arms and legs trembled and her long lapine ears pinned against her compact and well-muscled back. Her worn blue duffle bag hanging off her shoulder felt like a sack of bricks, their weight seemed to grow with each quaking step.

Judy found that she wasn't alone in her dilemma either, for better or worse. Dozens of young mammals of nearly every shape and size were struggling to contain their rising nerves and excitement as they ascended the Zootopian Hero Association's front steps.

Many were about Judy's age, and even though she hadn't seen many of these species before, she guessed that most were fresh out of high school. Bubbling parsnips, there was a good chance they were younger than she was!

Judy didn't really know how she felt about working with teenagers four or five years her junior. She felt a bit insulted if she was being completely honest. Like she was being upstaged by a bunch of kits playing "superhero".

 _Of course, the only reason I didn't come here when I was 18 was that I didn't meet the "minimum requirements". Speciesist pricks._

Her anger flared and burned at the tight bubble of fear in her chest at the _INJUSTICE_ of it all.

Though she wasn't aware of it arcs of yellow lightning fizzled to life between her fingers as her indignation grew.

 _I'll show them what a "cute little bunny" is capable of._

Her fear now firmly squashed her body felt free, her duffle weighed lighter on her shoulder and her chest swelled with pride and righteous anger. She bared her buck teeth in a little snarl and bounded up the stairs, her tiny body humming with power.

 _Her_ power.

Over 200 Superhero hopefuls turned up for the Public Defender Exam, the first in a 2-part series of trials before being recognized by the ZHA as Superheroes. A few of the applicants here had only come for the Public Defender Exam though, either to pursue a career in the Police Department or some other security force, both for government positions and the private sector.

Most, however, were here for the main event: the ZHA's _Hero Trials._

The foyer was massive, the circular room dwarfing any other building Judy had ever seen. She was confident she could easily fit the entire Hopps warren inside its interior with room to spare.

An even greater shock - though in retrospect she didn't know why she was so surprised - was seeing famous Superheroes pacing the huge building's floors.

Heroes like the A-Class Elasti-Mare, a beautiful painted mare with the ability to stretch and contort her body much like a rubber band with an elasticity that repelled blades and the strength to stop a speeding bus in its tracks. Something the beautiful horse had actually done on camera, naturally.

Or the B-Class Ripper, a pangolin with razor-sharp plates, as hard as steel and with the strength to match.

Or-or Robin Hood! The A-Class Fox Hero and an Avatar of Order, one of the strongest types of Superpowers in the world! The vulpine Hero could summon an ethereal bow of light; on top of his super speed, enhanced strength, and unmatched accuracy.

It was said Robin Hood had never missed a shot. _Ever._

But there was one Super Hero the little bunny looked up to above all others, and she was just moments from seeing him for the first time.

After waiting in line for the cranky and dull Capybara behind the reception desk to sign everyone in and hand out their numbers, Judy and the other Applicants were shepherded by a team of grim-faced ZPD officers to the back of the Hero Association's HQ; where a set of double doors sat open and waiting for them to enter.

Judy was careful to stick to the outside of the herd of applicants to avoid getting caught underfoot. She did not want to be remembered as the dumb bunny who died walking _in_ to take the Hero Trials. Her former tutor and her parents would never let her live that down, even in the afterlife.

So, clutching the slip of paper with her applicant number on it as if it were made of gold, the little gray bunny trailed after the rest into a large auditorium.

It looked much like the gym back in Bunnyburrow High School only super-sized, and with translucent blast-shielding in front of the bleachers.

 _I wonder why they need those?_ Judy wondered as the applicants filed onto the bleachers in an orderly manner.

She heard a set of metal doors thrown open with a loud bang and fought the urge to squirm as a bolt of excitement shot through her chest. She didn't know what was about to happen but whatever it was she couldn't _wait_ to get started.

That was when she saw _HIM._

The floor quaked with his every hoof-step. The air sizzled with a power that set every mammal's fur on end. It felt hard to move, to think. Every tiny movement, every _twitch_ became a chore as though gravity had suddenly multiplied by ten.

Judy had read once what it felt like to be in his presence. The suffocating _force_ of his power. She thought she was strong enough. She thought she could measure up, to at least be able to combat his power with her own.

They were both Avatars of Justice, so they should both be on the same wavelength, right?

Judy Hopps had never been more wrong. She had never felt more outmatched.

A Cape buffalo in a blue and white armoured body-suit marched to the center of the gym, his hooves sending ripples of power that shook the walls, the air, and even the most stout-hearted of applicants down to their core.

The tight combat suit strained tightly against the buffalo's body, showing off his cut musculature. His broad muzzle bore the scars of battles from years past, and his head sported a pair of horns sharpened to a wicked point. His arms were as thick as tree trunks with a torso wrapped in a mountain of powerful muscle. His broad back looked strong enough to hold the entire world on his shoulders, and often that seemed exactly the burden he carried.

After all, he was Adrian Bogo. Known also by his alias: Helios.

His most recognizable title, however, was that of _The Strongest Superhero in the World_.

The Cape Buffalo stopped in the center of the gym and turned towards the trembling applicants, his muzzle as hard as chiselled stone and his brown eyes as cold as ice. Judy had heard recordings of his voice before, but what the videos she had seen failed to record was his _power._

 **"** **Welcome to the ZHA."** Bogo rumbled, shaking the dust from the steel rafters and sending Judy bouncing a small distance across the bleachers.

Judy fought the urge to run for her life when the Cape Buffalo zeroed in on her through the crowd and bared his teeth in a vicious smile.

 **"** **Try not to die."**

Super Hero Special Incident Report #548730110

Time date: 100004182016Z

Location: Wisconsin, Animalia. Northern Forest Region.

Heroes:

-Helios: SS Class-

Power: Avatar of Justice

Type: Gravity control.

-Cypher: S Class-

Power: Psion

Type: Long-range telepath, Telekinetic

Mission: Target Capture

Target: H*&(#[ERROR]!'

#Super Hero Special Incident Report BEGIN#

0312Z

 _#Burst Message BEGIN#_ Helios and Cypher make landfall via Warp Gate. Dense temperate forest. No hostiles. Approach to target- 15 Klicks. _#Burst Message END#_

0831Z

 _#Burst Message BEGIN#_ Helios and C *&1r engaged hostile pa &^0l. 8 subdued. 2 KIA. AppW*&$ch to \ *?rget- 2 Kli#*&s. _#Burst Message END#_

0938Z

 _#Burst Message BEGIN#_ Helios and &*39phe+ [Error]. Target identified as *3[Error]^es. Cypher Down. Repeat Cypher Down. Helios Requests immediate Med-evac by Warp Gate. _#Burst Message END#_

0940Z

 _#Burst Message BEGIN#_ Helios Requests I*&*#)[ERROR]^3e Med-evac by Warp Gate _#Burst Message END#_

 _0943Z_

 _#Burst Message BEGIN#_ Helios R*$=_ests Immediate Med-evac by W*636p Gate _#Burst Message END#_

0946Z

 _#Burst Message BEGIN#_ He)[ERROR]\\*s Requests Immediate Med-evac by Warp Gate _#Burst Message END#_

0958Z

 _#Burst Message BEGIN#_ Cypher confirmed KIA. Target E!7-&inated. Helios request retrieve by Warp Gate. _#Burst Message END#_

#Super Hero Special Incident Report END#

A/N:

I'm back! I'm alive!

After a good 23 days (yes I counted) of silence, I have a new tasty morsel for your ravenous reading pleasure! Try not to give yourself indigestion, there are plenty of little snippets of details important to the plot. I'm not saying I'm dropping hints like breadcrumbs after Thanksgiving supper but…

On a side note, _Not A Hero is Featured on ZNN!_ Holy crap! Mighty Heck! Jeepers! ZOINKS!

For those that aren't familiar ZNN it's an actual fan-run website for Zootopian fans. Since discovering it, I've found it's a great source for fanfictions and other fun stuff. They actually featured Not A Hero just last week! I'm stoked!

It's wild that others would take an interest in my and Canuck's work to the point where they write articles on it.

Okay, enough fangirling for today.

Until next time, **try not to die.**

-Untraveled

Editor's Note:

Ooh boy, I was so excited to edit this chapter. The more times I read through it, the more I thought of how much you folks were going to love it!

I hope I got it polished nicely enough to do it _justice_ , though you might have to ask Judy or Bogo to be sure.

Toodles!


	6. The Question

Chapter 5: The Question

" **Welcome to the ZHA."** The Cape buffalo boomed. Helios' muzzle split into a vicious grin and the gravitational force tripled on the hapless gaggle of candidates.

" **Try not to die."**

Judy groaned in pain as her back flexed against her will from the incredible pressure. It felt as if his presence itself demanded they bend and bow to him. She vaguely recognized the pained grunts and moans of her fellow candidates buckling under Bogo's onslaught. Knowing she wasn't the only one struggling was a small consolation, but it wasn't enough.

A bolt of defiant anger sparked deep in the bunny's chest.

 _I didn't get this far just to wimp out as soon as I walk through the door. No way. Justice bows to no one, so neither will I._

Her Power answered her. Arcs of yellow lightning leapt at her command and wove themselves through her body and danced across her gray fur.

 _I can't tire myself out before the trial even begins. I only need to show them all a hint of what I can do._

With an ease born of years of practice, Judy focused her power along her spine, strengthening her back muscles and reinforcing her core. Though she had never officially confirmed it Judy was confident her strength and speed had multiplied nearly 8-fold. With her power's reinforcement in place, the bunny felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

With her power humming strong and merrily in her ears the tiny gray bunny sat up straight, her floppy ears standing at attention even as mammals many times her size buckled under Helios' gravity field.

When she saw Helios' brows rise ever so slightly in surprise, no small amount of giddy satisfaction rushed to her cheeks and down her throat like a warm honeyed brew.

With a subtle twitch of his tapered ear, Helios snorted and cut the gravity field, frowning as the nearly 200 candidates slumped in their seats and collectively groaned in relief. A couple of mammals besides the odd gray rabbit had fared noticeably better under his gravity field. A black Rhino in a ZPD t-shirt and a spotted hyena in green hoodie and brown sweatpants with an off-kilter grin on his muzzle, in particular.

Not the best turn out for such a large batch of hopefuls, but not the worst either.

The strength of powers and abilities couldn't always be gauged by how well they fared under several times the force of Earth's gravity, however. If they could then less than 3 out of the 200 mammals would have been worth scouting for the Zootopia Hero Association.

What Adrian Bogo wanted to gauge was their will, and despite bending to his power and losing quite a bit of their drive and confidence towards the Public Defender Trial that lay ahead, the cape buffalo could see quite a few faces hardened in determination.

The little rabbit among them. Whatever youthful and arrogant assumptions she had were taken down a peg. No matter what kind of power she possessed or whoever her teacher was the Public Defender Trial would prove to be no walk in the park.

His curiosity sated, Helios rested his hooves on his belt and addressed the recovering candidates.

" **Some of you have been trained for this, some of you have even been rated as powerful supers already."** The Cape Buffalo snorted as if he was dismissing the past efforts that had led them to this point. " **Who Cares?"**

" **What I do care about is that you do what I tell you when I tell you."** Helios boomed, his voice growing stern and deathly serious. " **I tell you to jump, you jump. I tell you to fight, you fight. I say you fail the Trials you get the scat out of my Headquarters and don't come back until I say you can. Do I make myself clear?"**

When no one answered Bogo rose his voice, shaking the rafters once more. " **I SAID DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"**

"Y-yes Sir!" The candidates stammered, Judy, throwing her startled response in along with the rest of them.

" **Good."** Helios unhooked one of his hooves from his belt and gestured to a set of metal doors. " **Then Allow me to introduce the Head Examiner for today's Trials."**

The doors swung open revealing a short and utterly underwhelming white wool ewe in a light green blouse and a little plaid skirt with a pair of comically large glasses perched on the end of her little snout.

A few of the candidates chuckled as the small ewe clopped across the quiet gym to stand beside Helios. Even at her full height the top of the ewe's bouncy wool head-cut barely reached the massive cape buffalo's knee. The vast contrast between the two mammals sent ripples of amused murmurs through the crowd.

Except for Judy. She paled in fright at the little ewe straightening her glasses and wiggling her hooves in anticipation.

Judy's master had told her about the vicious little sheep. A warning on the dangers of underestimating other "cute" little mammals. Appearances had nothing to do with potential power. This sheep took full advantage of mammals' misconceptions, just as Judy herself had, though to a much greater degree.

 _That's Dawn Bellwether. S-Class Super Hero. Master called her the "Puppet Master"._

Bland skirt and blouse or no, Dawn Bellwether was one of the few Heroes Judy was outright frightened of, next to her master back home and a choice few others.

With her glasses nestled nicely over her eyes, the ewe made a mental note of the candidates chuckling and whispering about her before smirking and slowly raising a small hoof up.

Judy recognized what was about to happen about a second too late to do anything about it, except hold on to the bleachers and tense up.

Then the ewe snapped her fingers and Judy's world began to spin.

 _She's changing the room's shape! She's- she's throwing everything around like one of her puppets!_

The bleachers, the walls, the floor, even the blast shields rose from the floor as the gym was rearranged in a maelstrom of steel and stone. The Puppet Master stood in the epicentre of the storm on a raised platform alongside an amused Bogo. The evil little ewe humming and dancing as her hooves pulled at invisible strings only she could see. The candidates screamed in fear as they were swung around the room as if by some sadistic rollercoaster from hell.

Judy felt her stomach jam into her throat as she clenched her seat tighter, struggling to hold onto her breakfast as they were whipped around the room with wild abandon. At first, she held her eyes closed tight but after a few seconds she fought against her terror and forced herself to open them and watch the Puppet Master's display of power.

It took her a few seconds to realize that the gym they were in was actually _designed_ to be rearranged and changed like this. The floor and walls were made of a semi-malleable, grey, concrete-like substance that rose and shaped into whatever manner of terrain was wished.

Then as suddenly as it had begun the room finally stopped spinning. When Judy managed to choke down her breakfast and reorient herself, she found her breath taken away.

The straight walls around them became smooth with a rounded curve, essentially turning the gym into a wide bowl-shaped arena. The steel rafter above them vanished and in its place was a gray ceiling devoid of any imperfections. The candidates found themselves seated above this arena, giving them a good vantage point for whatever was about to happen in the bowl below.

The translucent blast shields were a few feet in front of them to protect them from stray attacks, though Judy doubted this six-inch polyester blended glass could even slow down one of her half-charged lightning spear thrusts.

A prim and proper little cough from the ewe caught Judy's attention, along with the other candidates struggling to hold down their own stomach contents. Down in the very center of the bowl-shaped arena stood Adrian Bogo and Dawn Bellwether. Neither Super Hero had moved an inch while Dawn had been rearranging the room.

Bellwether coughed once more then cutely clasped her hooves behind her back and bounced on the tips of her feet a couple of times enthusiastically.

"Now that I finally have your full attention, I believe it's time to begin, starting with proper introductions!" The ewe exclaimed in a near sickly sweet soprano.

"My name is Dawn Bellwether. Though you may better know me as the Puppet Master! The ZHA's fourth highest ranked S-Class Super Hero! I will be the Head Examiner for today's Public Defender Trials."

The little sheep suddenly rose a hoof causing Judy to flinch and several of the other candidates to dive for cover. The ewe smirked in amusement and flicked her finger, carving a pathway from the bleachers to the locker rooms and two pathways down to the base of the arena.

Both the male and female locker room doors burst open in unison and out marched two familiar figures, a red fox in a green hood and cloak and a painted mare in an elastic black armoured body glove.

Judy bit her lip to suppress the fangirl squeal that rose in her chest.

 _Robin Hood and Elasti-Mare! Sweet Cheese and Crackers, They're the other examiners?!_

Judy, feeling suddenly self-conscious, struggled not to stare as the Super Heroes passed. Most of the other candidates were faced with a similar dilemma, but the Hyena in the gray hoodie held no reservations towards eyeing the Heroes with an odd toothy grin that nearly looked… hungry.

A ripple of similar reactions spread through the assembled candidates. Almost all veteran A-Class Super Heroes were celebrities in their own right. Many of them even had agents, PR teams, and even exclusive advertising deals with companies. It wasn't uncommon to turn on " _Hero Watch"_ and catch a Super Hero valiantly battling a Villain somewhere in the city with a Company's logo painted on their costume.

It was similar to the way that some sports stars signed contracts with brand name companies to draw more attention to their products. In fact, it had become par for the course. The better backing a Super Hero had, the more funds they had at their disposal to acquire new equipment and other amenities.

Robin Hood and Elasti-Mare passed by the whispering candidates and descended into the arena to take their places next to Bellwether.

"Robin Hood will be evaluating your combat capabilities, while Elasti-Mare will focus on scoring your auxiliary and support capabilities." Bellwether explained.

Both Heroes silently bobbed their heads as their roles were announced. "Now I will pass it on to Robin Hood to further explain how today's Public Defender Trial will be conducted."

"Thank you, Puppet-Master." A thrill shivered up Judy's spine at Robin Hood's strong masculine tenor, like velvet over smooth river rocks.

As a kit, she had watched hundreds of interviews and videos of various Super Heroes. Needless to say, Robin Hood's very first interview 10 years ago left a very distinct impression on her.

When the Fox hero spoke, it was like his voice demanded attention and when he gave an order those that heard felt compelled to follow.

 _Perhaps it has something to do with him being an Avatar of Order?_ Judy wondered. _Power types like Avatars do tend to draw from whatever their Conviction is. It would make sense that Robin Hood is a natural at keeping Order._

Robin Hood stepped forward and addressed the candidates, his smooth and strong voice firm as it carried easily throughout the room; even in the arena's cavernous expanse.

"Good morning all. The Public Defender Trials are made up of two separate tests, a written evaluation and a combat evaluation."

The hooded fox held up two fingers. "You will be separated into two groups. While one group is taking the written test the other will be taking the combat test. Once both tests are done the groups will switch. The combat evaluation will take place here while the written evaluation will be conducted in the atrium down the hall. Any questions?"

When he received no answer Robin Hood nodded to Bellwether and the ewe took control of the crowd to divide them into their groups.

Judy felt a smudge of disappointment as she was shuffled off with her group to take the written test first. She wanted to be the first to make a good impression with her idols! She didn't want to be evaluated after they had already been worn down by the huge number of candidates being tested before her. How would she be noticed if all the evaluators were practically asleep on their feet?!

She put aside her disappointment for the moment when Elasti-Mare gathered her group and shuffled them out of the Arena towards the locker rooms while Robin Hood prepped the group staying in the arena to fight first.

She stowed her duffel bag in one of the blue painted lockers near the arena's entrance, then followed the other 100-odd mammals trailed behind Elasti-Mare in a reasonably straight line down a spotless white corridor. Soon enough, they entered a huge room that resembled a college classroom, with large steps lined with desks of increasing size in a semi-circle around a whiteboard and an oak wood table.

An odd sense of Nostalgia settled over Judy's shoulders like a familiar warm jacket as she peeked into the classroom. It reminded her of her college days, and perhaps a field trip as a young kit.

Elasti-Mare trotted over to the oak table and sat on the table's dark wooden edge with her ankles daintily crossed and her weight resting on her arm, almost like she was posing for some schoolteacher photo-op or a magazine cover. Even her smile seemed picture perfect.

The painted mare gestured to the stack of tests on the table next to her as the candidates piled into the classroom.

"Take a test and have a seat. Smaller mammals sit at the front, larger mammals file into the back."

Judy noticed a few vaguely mammalian mannequins standing silent and dormant in each corner of the room. Each of the figures resembled a super-sized doll, with ball joints that allowed the mannequins' limbs and torsos to bend and dull gray armour plating instead of skin or fur. Even the mannequin's face was barely more than a block of gray armour in the outline of a wolf with tiny slits for its eyes and a thick flexible whip-like appendage for a tail.

Her long black-tipped ears flicked up in recognition.

 _Those are some of_ the _Puppet master's mannequins._

As if listening to her thoughts one of the mannequins against the far wall turned its blank face around to stare at her. The distant chance of that little ewe being able to reach into her head and listen to her thoughts sent a chill down Judy's spine.

 _She can't actually hear my thoughts though. That… that would be ridiculous! Right?_

Elasti-Mare seemed much more at ease than the candidates at seeing four of the Puppet-master's mannequins in the room. She waved a hoof at the motionless gray constructs silently staring at the pile of candidates peeking into the room through the door.

"These puppets will oversee the exam. As long as you don't attempt to cheat or use your powers while taking the written test you have nothing to worry about."

A mischievous smirk pulled at the painted mare's lips as she innocently added, "Probably."

 _She's joking. Right?_

A couple of seconds later Judy and the rest of the candidates were shepherded by Elasti-Mare to line up in a semi-orderly line out in the hallway as they filed into the large classroom.

Judy was stuck somewhere in the middle of the line of candidates fidgety and jittering with anxiety, her worn blue duffel bag bouncing off her jean-clad thigh every time she hopped out of line to pop her head around the hippo in front of her to see how close she was to the table of test forms.

 _I can't wait to get this over with and get on to the combat evaluation. The suspense is killing me!_

The little doe was so swept up in her own thoughts that she nearly leapt out of her skin and came too close to discharging a few thousand volts into the mammal attached to the claw lightly tapping on her shoulder. (And she absolutely _did not_ let out a squeak when her feet hit the ground. Super Heroes don't squeak. It was a cough.)

She whirled around and fought the automatic urge to snarl in a very un-bunny-like manner at the giggling hyena grinning down at her.

"Hey, hey, Cutie? You're pretty strong ain'tcha? Right, right?" The spotted dust brown canid chattered in a strange giggling titter.

For some reason, the Hyena had kept his hood over his head even indoors, almost like he was imitating Robin Hood. When Judy squinted, she could just make out a pair of reflective golden eyes staring out at her from beneath the shadow of that hood.

Something just wasn't right about the hyena, but she couldn't put a claw on exactly what about him set her on edge. He didn't have an oppressive aura like Helios or a dangerous visage like the pangolin B-class hero Ripper, whose body was literally covered in razor-sharp blades. The only thing this Hyena had done so far was smile, albeit creepily, and talk with an unusual verbal tic. He hadn't done anything to warrant her ire or suspicion.

Still… Her master had always said that in the absence of information one must trust their instincts and right now her instincts were screaming for her to shut up and get some space between her and this hyena.

"Hey, Hey! I asked ya a question cutie. Are ya strong?" The Hyena leaned until he was stooping over her and Judy had to crane her head up just to look the babbling creep in the eye.

"Don't call me cute," Judy snapped reflexively.

The Hyena's grin faltered, and he wobbled back from her withering glare like she had suddenly grown a few feet taller. She would have given the rude creep a piece of her mind if the Rhino in the ZPD shirt hadn't stepped up behind the hyena and interrupted them.

"Quit bothering the rabbit. You're holding up the line." The rhino grunted, his muscular arms folded over his chest and his voice stern.

The Hyena spun around and without missing a beat promptly ignored the Rhino's warning and began pelting him with questions.

"Hey, hey! You seem pretty strong too! You are strong ain'tcha? Ain'tcha!"

The Rhino frowned and sighed wearily, already tired of dealing with the crazy canid. For a moment Judy caught his eye and shot him a helpless smile and mouthed a silent thank you, which the Rhino returned with a tiny smile of his own and an understanding nod.

 _He wants to be a police officer, judging from his shirt, and he doesn't seem to look down on me just because I'm a bunny. I think this is someone I can respect._

A couple of minutes and a nonstop barrage of babbling questions from the infuriating Hyena later Judy finally hopped over to grab her written test and took the small sized desk on the second row right above the rodent-sized row at the very front. She vaguely noted that she was the only mammal of her size class in the room as well, the next smallest being a few felines and the chittering hyena.

Once everyone had found a seat and gotten comfortable Elasti-Mare tapped the blank white board behind the table. The board was apparently a touch screen of some kind. It flickered to life, displaying a timer in plain black text.

"You have 2 hours to complete the test," the equine superhero stated as she tapped the screen to start the timer's countdown and strolled out of the door.

"And remember," she stopped just inside the doorway and coyly looked over her shoulder at the silent gray puppets standing vigil in the corners of the room. "Don't cheat."

Judy steeled her erratic nerves and schooled her features into a resemblance of calm and composure (as much as her shaking ears and twitching button nose would allow at least). She was nervous but confident in her capabilities.

At the age of 22 she was already the proud recipient of two separate bachelors and three associate's degrees in various fields related to Super Hero work. If anything, this exam would be a walk in the park! But there was always that nagging little voice in the back of her mind that constantly jabbed at her self-confidence.

Despite her accomplishments, she was still unsure that she was good enough to be a superhero.

However, the moment she flipped to the first page of her test Judy had to slap her paws over her muzzle to catch the giggle of relief that slipped out.

Question 1. What is Pi?

A) 3.14…

B) Delicious

C) 8

D) 1 1/2

 _I feel… a bit underwhelmed._

The bunny had to clear her throat a couple times to get her giggles under control and even then, she had to fight the urge to put down B just for fun. After marking the right answer Judy found much of her nervous anxiety dissipating as she settled into the flow of skimming over the simple common-sense questions.

A few pages later she discovered that the Public Defender exam was actually separated into different sections and she had just finished the general knowledge section. She took a quick peek at the rest of the test and found four more sections of various topics. To her surprise out of the four remaining sections only one was delegated to Laws and Regulations, the rest of the test focused on physics, science and finally, the final portion labelled "Real World Scenarios".

Judy breezed through Laws and Regulations with laughable ease (Question 38. True or false, is J-walking legal?) though parts of the Science section proved more difficult for her, particularly the chemistry questions (Question 82. Can you light a diamond on fire and if so, why? … _How the buttery parsnips would I know?!_ ).

Physics, for the most part, was easy as well but every now and then she ran into a question that had her stumped.

Question 95. How hard does one have to slap a frozen chicken to cook it?

The formula for Converting kinetic energy and thermal energy: 1/2m

Show your work below.

 _What kind of question is that?! I mean come on I'm a rabbit for Serendipity's sake!_

Flaky and bizarre test questions about slapping frozen fowl aside the test was a breeze. At the very least Judy was sure she had passed the first four sections with a respectable score.

What really kicked her fluffy little tail though was the last section, "Real Life Scenarios".

Question 101. You are battling a dangerous villain that is endangering the city with a remote detonator and explosives. As you corner the villain you see a little kit stranded in the middle of the road as a bus careens towards her. You only have enough time to either save the kit or capture the escaping villain.

Who will you choose?

 _Who will I choose?_ The question felt as though it had pulled its ink dyed tendrils off the page and socked her in the throat. What kind of despicably low kind of question was this?! Judy felt outraged at her choices.

 _Save the kit or save the city._ Judy's confidence in her decision-making skills faltered. Previously the rest of the questions had been strange and off the wall, but what this scenario was demanding of her went against everything her sense of Justice stood for.

 _In real life, I would save both! I would find a way!_

Sure of herself and her powers Judy scribbled just that down for her answer and moved on, only to find the next question was no easier to answer. Her ears slumped against her back, but she set her jaw and dove in with a barely concealed snarl, all the while that question swirled around in her head, plaguing her like a sickening shadow.

 _Save the kit or save the city. If that happens would I save the kit or save the city?_

 _I would save them both._

She felt that her answers for the real-life scenarios grew more and more unsure and weak with every question, her lips began to quiver, and her paws shook just a little in what she hoped was outrage at the callous question.

Finally, she stabbed a period at the end of her last answer and slapped the test closed a bit harder than probably was strictly necessary. The sudden smack of paper against laminated wood startled a few of the mammals still sweating over their unfinished tests.

Judy huffed and looked up at the timer. She finished her test with twenty minutes to spare, and that was even with her methodically taking her time.

Propping her cheek up with an arm Judy glanced behind her to take a peek to see if anyone else was done too. A few mammals here and there were sitting back or slumped over their desks like they were finished, the rhino from earlier being one of them. It wasn't until she accidentally made eye contact with a grinning hyena sitting in the row right behind her that a scowl darkened her face. It seemed like he had been staring at her nearly the entire time since he had finished his own test. She turned away and did her best to pretend there wasn't a grinning canid virtually breathing down her neck while she stared down the timer and urged it to count faster.

Finally, the timer struck zero and Judy jolted in her seat when the four mannequins all lurched from their stations and began to mutely collect the tests with robotic precision. The mechanical claws that swept her finished test from her desk were a mere whiskers breadth from her nose.

Once the tests had all been collected one of the puppets opened the door and gestured for the candidates to follow it out before marching into the hallway.

Judy was off like a shot the second the puppet began to move, partially because of the rush of excitement that crashed into her system but mostly to create as much distance from that leering hyena as possible. A few of the candidates snickered as they watched her little cotton tail bolt out of the room before they followed suit and clambered stiffly from their desks to trail after the puppet.

Judy heard their laughter. It kinked her tail every time she heard others look down on her. she fully intended to put them in their place during the combat trial.

She would show them what a _REAL_ Superhero could do.

" _Save the kit or save the city."_ The bunny doe chanted the question under her breath like a mantra.

" _I would save them both. I would save them both."_

" _I would save…."_

[-]

Once the entourage of nervous candidates reached the locker rooms the males and females separated and shuffled away to don their gear. Judy noted that the female candidates were far outnumbered by the male candidates. Judy knew that going in but that didn't stop it from twisting at her inferiority complex. Judy knew she had a chip on her shoulder and she wore it proudly on her sleeve.

Come hell or high water she would prove that a bunny- and female bunny at that- could do whatever large classed males could do and she would do it better!

It didn't mean she wasn't nervous to the point of trembling though. Super-Bun or no she was still just a mammal.

The upside to being a female was that the locker rooms were less crowded at least. Out of the roughly 100 candidates in her group about thirty of them were female, leaving Judy with more space to herself and less of a chance to get stepped on by one of the megafauna hopefuls.

The locker room was a bit messier than when she had first set her duffel into her locker. A few discarded bits of undergarments and random pieces of padded armour were strewn on the floor or on the benches facing the blue painted lockers.

Judy beelined it to her own locker and was pleased to see that her bag was untouched. She wouldn't put it past some of these mammals to take it upon themselves to teach the cute little bunny rabbit just how out of her depth she was.

A muffled explosion from the arena shook the walls and startled the mammals in the locker room, drawing everyone's gaze to the door. A nervous flitter tickled Judy's ribs as a rush of excitement chased after it. She could hardly wait to get out there.

Unzipping her worn blue duffel bag Judy quickly stripped out of her pink flannel and jeans and took out a gray body glove that matched her fur quite closely. Nostalgia and a fuzzy warmth nestled in her chest as she examined her suit for any previously missed tears or holes.

Her Mother and Father had never liked her career choice but after 13 years under the tutelage of one of Zootopia's greatest retired Super Heroes, Bonnie and Stu Hopps had been given plenty of time to accept her odd and very un-bunny-like dream.

Her parents had given her this suit right before she completed her training a couple of months ago. It was the first form of support they had ever truly shown in their little trier's crazy dream. Judy had burst into tears upon opening her gift and for once she couldn't find a reason to be ashamed for it either.

She set her suit down reverently on top of her duffel and went to peel off her sports bra until she stopped and glanced around in a sudden wave of self-consciousness. Truth be told she wasn't completely comfortable stripping naked in a room full of strangers but no one else seemed to care so Judy swallowed her discomfort and stripped her bra and panties off. She quickly slid into the comfortable confines of her skin-tight suit and zipped her front closed with precision.

After pulling at the back of her suit until her tail popped out of the hole where her spine ended Judy bounced on her toes and did a few stretches to work the kinks out of the stretchy neoprene. With that done, she placed her discarded clothes into the duffel and pulled out a few pieces of black padded armour. With practiced ease, Judy clicked the pauldrons and chest piece over her shoulders and torso and attached greaves to her shins with attached pads to guard her knees.

The only place she left unarmored was her lower stomach and lap to keep her as flexible and unimpeded as possible. Her suit hugged her figure nicely. Her hips were flared out pronouncing her tight muscular legs in an eye-catching display. Even her lower back flexed with each twist of her body. Her shoulders and biceps were tight and cut sharp flowing curves even through her suit without being bulky.

Judy had a gymnast's body; compact, lean, and powerful. More so, the gray bunny knew how to use her sleek form. She had trained for over a decade in several flavours of combat and she strove to excel in all of them.

The last of Judy's protective ensemble was a goofy padded helmet. Normally Judy would have left the helmet off on account of it feeling as if she had a foam cage strapped to her face, but she made a promise to her mother to wear it during the combat trials. She may have looked ridiculous but at least if she got smacked her head wouldn't turn into a bruised grape. It did limit her vision though.

Securing her bag in her locker, Judy took a steadying breath and with a bounce in her step she marched out into the arena, her fists clenched at her sides and her jaw set.

Her heart was unexpectedly calm and her mind was unusually clear. She was nothing if not stellar under pressure and it showed. Any thoughts of that weird Hyena and his unsettling questions were forgotten, any doubts and uncertainties were shoved to the back of her mind and locked away with the rest of her insecurities.

Her heart was calm and her mind clear, all except for a quiet little voice hissing from its dark little corner.

" _Save the kit or save the city."_

" _I would save them both."_

" _I would save them both."_

" _I would…"_

Public Defender Application Form

Sponsor (Optional) : Jacob Zebedia Otterton

Sponsor Qualification: A-Class Super Hero (Ret.)

Public Defender #: ZHA07132A

Applicant Full Name: Judith Laverne Hopps

Age: 22

Species: Brown Rabbit (Gray Fur)

Height (W/O Ears): 2 FT 4 IN

Weight: 28 lbs

Power: Avatar of Justice

Power Type: Lightning/Weapon Summoning/Armor Summoning/Physical Enhancement

Power Class: A-

Other Combat Qualifications: 4th Degree Black Belt in Super Mixed Martial Arts, 2nd Degree Black Belt in Judo and Karate, NRA Certified Rifle and Pistol Marksmammal

A/N: Save the cheerleader, save the- oops! Wrong story.

Is a single life more valuable than the collective? Can you sacrifice just one if it meant you could save many others?

Judy wants to save everyone; she wants a happy ending. But life doesn't always cooperate. Not everyone gets to walk into the sunset. Judy doesn't want to choose.

What would you do?

Save the kit? Or save the City?

-Untraveled

Editor's Note:

Ah, ye olde ethical dilemma. Kit shaped pancake, or building shaped craters? Mmm, speaking of pancakes, I might just go make some, complete with authentic maple syrup and a dash of survivor's guilt for that unique flavour.

It's a sad truth that the more we try to save everyone, the fewer people we save in the end. Sometimes, life just comes down to cold, cruel calculus and nothing more. Thankfully though, I didn't take calculus in high school, so I can leave those kinds of problems to the engineers and physicists.

Toodles!


	7. Time Crunch

Chapter 6: Time Crunch

Judy figured herself as a relatively self-aware bunny. She thought herself as someone that could reliably identify her own flaws or drawbacks in her character, physicality, or line of thought. She had to since she had trained most of her life to better herself. Most of her weaknesses either she or her Master had beaten into submission throughout her 13 year tutelage.

Indecisiveness? Hesitating in the heat of battle will get you killed. Train until you react without having to think. Fear? That leads to bad decisions and will get you killed. Jump off high things and fight enough megafauna until you gain the confidence to push through. Empathy? It leads to misplaced trust and hesitance and will get you stabbed in the back and killed. Bad guys are bad because they only care about themselves, regardless of what they say, do, or beg. Anger? It clouds your mind and will get you killed. Being a Superhero is nothing personal, it is just business so treat it as such.

Judy has conquered them all, but as a result of her Master's aggressive take on "building character" she had developed a thirst for combat bordering on bloodlust and a competitive streak a mile wide. She is an adrenaline junkie through and through, and she is proud of it!

Normally her combative and competitive nature is confined to her training out in the wilderness where she could let loose a little with her powers. Since completing her training however she hadn't had the chance to flex her muscles much at all and admittedly she had been feeling a bit stir-crazy.

As soon as she stepped back into the gym-turned-arena it was like she had just walked outside of a stale room and breathed her first lungful of fresh air. The explosive rumbles shaking the bowl shaped arena stirred a fire in her blood and set her little adrenaline junkie bunny heart racing gleefully.

Bounding up the dull gray steps that led from the locker room to the bleachers sitting on the edge of arena her nervous frown gave way to the battle crazed grin underneath. She crested the steps and jumped onto an empty space in the front row just in time to see the unusually trim and cut hippo duking it out down in the arena's center get his shit rocked by a puppet's flying hook kick.

The mannequin's armored heel made contact with the hippo's jaw with a meaty thud Judy felt more than heard. The impact lifted the two ton mammal off his feet and set him spiraling through the air like an American football before smacking snout first into the ground with an earthshaking crash that had everyone in the bleachers flinching and sucking their teeth in pity.

Judy hissed through her own buckteeth in sympathy. She knew what a hit like that felt like. She lost count of how many times she woke staring up at the sky nursing a huge bruise on her face and wondering how she got on the ground. Still, to throw a full grown hippo like that with a single kick… Those armored mannequins are no joke and Puppet-Master is _not_ playing around.

As the dust settled Judy could make out four other mannequins besides the one that KO-ed the poor hippo candidate strewn throughout the arena in various states of disarray. Judy missed what kind of power the hippo had but whatever it was it was strong enough to crumple the mannequins' thick armor hide and leave sizable dents in the smooth gray floor and walls.

"Alright! That's enough!"

Judy felt a slight prickle in the back of her mind as Robin Hood stepped off the other end of the arena and slid down the curved wall almost as if he were surfing down its surface, his arms out and his legs slightly bent at the knees. Judy briefly wondered off-pawed about the odd sensation she felt from the Avatar of Order's voice before disregarding the thought.

As Robin Hood jogged to the fallen Hippo the mannequins Judy had thought beyond repair rose to their feet eerily as if lifted by an invisible set of strings. The crumpled armor torsos and limbs popped and straightened with a series of grotesque snaps until five near perfect mannequins once again stood mute and menacing around the fallen Hippo.

Robin Hood bent over the Hippo and checked him over for anything broken or bleeding. Finding nothing but a nasty bump on the side of the unconscious candidate's huge jaw the Vulpine Superhero waved for the mannequins to carry the unfortunate mammal out of the arena.

Now that she actually looks at the other mammals seated around her more than a few of them are sporting bandages and cradling sore limbs. She noticed that a number of them were only wearing the bare minimum amount of armor and padding. They were paying for that arrogant rookie mistake in spades. Nearly every single face in the crowd was turned into a pained frown and a few looked like death warmed over, their faces pale underneath their fur with an unfocused and traumatized glazed expression in their eyes.

The sad spectacle brought the crooked delivered words of her master back to her. " _Your misery warms my cold dead heart."_ She hadn't found it funny at the time (Though the floral arrangement of bruises all over her body at the time may have had something to do with it) but seeing the other candidates who had strolled in here cocky and full of themselves reduced to this pitiful gaggle of wretches… Well, she could certainly appreciate the irony.

After seeing the last candidate dragged out of the arena over the shoulders of two the mannequins Robin Hood turned his gilded face towards the spectators and addressed them in his smooth demanding tenor. Again Judy felt a tingle in the back of her head as his words rolled over her. Perhaps that sensation has something to do with Robin Hood's power after all?

"That was the last one of your group." He announced. The beaten up candidates sagged in relief as he continued. "Go strip your gear in the locker room and follow Puppet-Master's mannequins down to the written testing room."

The bruised candidates slipped off the bleachers without so much as a word or a sneer in Judy's direction opting to instead use their remaining dregs of stamina to limp away and drag themselves to the classroom. They were too tired to even bother poking fun at the cute bunny about to get stomped by a squad of overgrown metal dolls.

A few minutes later the rest of Judy's group filed onto the vacated bleachers clad in armor padding and weapons strapped to their person. Despite being armed to the teeth many of them were wearing concerned frowns on their muzzles. One of the tigers looked like his fur was about to floof out in terror. Judy had to bite her lip to keep from giggling.

"Everyone here?" Robin Hood asked. When no one said anything to the contrary the hooded fox nodded. "Good, because I am only going to explain the rules once and if you dare to break them and endanger anyone else here then I will break you instead." The vulpine hero's tone chilled the anxious air around the nervous candidates and the pair of ice blue eyes faintly glowing from the shadow of his foliage green hood set Judy's fur on end.

"Am I understood?"

Terrifying fox Superheroes and killer puppets aside Judy was looking forward to showcasing her skills to an actual audience. Besides the odd cantrip of power or short acrobatic display for a group of her siblings Judy had never performed anything related to her powers in front of other mammals before and after attentively listening to Robin Hood's rules she was chomping at the bit to get started.

The rules were simple, don't aim any attacks above the arena where they could possibly hit the spectators, Don't use your powers to interfere with another's combat test, and finally any attacks that could endanger the building or the spectators was forbidden. A few of the candidates were scratching their heads at the last rule but Judy had run into a number of Heroes her Master knew that possessed chemical-based powers so she thought it quite necessary as a rule.

As Robin Hood detailed a few last notes in his orientation Judy scanned the gym-turned-arena and saw another set of clear blast shields like the ones in front of her off to the right side of the oval shaped arena. A number of comfortable chairs in a variety of sizes were lined behind the blast shield with Elasti-Mare standing off to the side with a clipboard in her hooves and Dawn Bellwether in the small seat next to her. the diminutive ewe's eyes were closed and her legs crossed in the lotus position as she controlled her puppets.

The rest of the seats were empty except for the center seat. It was the largest and adorned in the humble piece of furniture sat Adrian Bogo, A.K.A. Helios. The most powerful superhero in the world lounged in the seat as if it were a throne, and for all intents and purposes it was. His hooves were steepled in front of him as his sharp and intimidating gaze flicked about the room with a frightening intensity.

His eyes made contact with her own inquisitive gaze for the briefest of moments and a trill of exhilarating terror shot up Judy's spine, making her feel as if she had done overstepping some unspoken boundary or decided to free-dive without a parachute when daring to meet his eye.

Thankfully Helios' piercing gaze slipped away a second later as if she were just another faded stain on the arena wall and for once Judy was achingly thankful to go unnoticed by her idol. He intimidated the pellets out of her and the last thing she wanted to do was embarrass or make a fool of herself in front of her childhood idol.

When Robin Hood was at last finished Judy was hoping he would ask for volunteers for the first candidate but unfortunately they were going by Candidate Number. Fortunately Judy was Number 103 and since the first group was exactly 100 mammals strong she only had to wait for two mammals before it was her turn.

First up was the Rhino in the ZPD shirt. Elasti-Mare Stretched an arm out and slingshot herself over the blast shield and bounced fluidly into the center of the arena with a casual grace that made Judy ever so slightly envious. The beautiful painted mare called out the Rhino's number off the list and he lifted himself off the bleachers and confidently marched down the stairs into the center of the Arena. He exchanged a few words with Elasti-Mare and she scribbled a few notes on her clipboard before knocking a hoof to his shoulder for good luck and both she and Robin Hood strolled back to their seats beside Helios with easy graceful steps.

Judy watched the painted mare lean over to Dawn Bellwether to relay a few of her notes to the meditating sheep. Puppet-Master kept her eyes closed but nodded her head. Elasti-Mare turned back to the Rhino waiting patiently in the center of the Arena.

"McHorn, are you ready?"

"Yes Ma'am!" The rhino boomed and cracked his knuckles enthusiastically.

Elasti-Mare nodded and turned to Bellwether and said, "You're good to go." A nasty little grin broke across Puppet-Master's scrunched up lips and with an almost regal wave of her little hoof the gym once again turned on its head.

The curved arena floors lifted and frothed randomly as spires of grey floor shot towards the ceiling and crevices in the earth yawned open and pulled apart like ocean water parting wet sand. Judy watched in awe as a multitude of blank faced mannequins of various shapes and sizes melted from the writhing gray walls. She noticed that throughout this maelstrom of organized chaos only the arena's epicenter where McHorn stood was left unmolested.

All at once the room froze still as a photograph. The bowl shaped arena had vanished and in its place was a gray-scale mixed species residential bloc common in Zootopia. Grey blocks shaped into small, medium, and large sized apartment buildings lined a number of crisscrossing streets that ended abruptly at the Arena's walls. Puppet-Master had stretched a number of overpasses over and through the faux neighborhoods giving the already cramped terrain a chaotic 3rd dimension.

Judy squinted through the false structures and spotted a number of the armored mannequins sprinting about in a seemingly random manner to their starting points for the test. She popped to her feet and set her padded helmet on her seat to try and catch a glimpse of McHorn, unfortunately she couldn't see anything through the throng of buildings. After a few moments Judy was about to resign herself to just listen to the fight below and moping until McHorn was finished when the Ballistic Shield in front of the bleachers flickered and McHorn appeared, his position projected onto the translucent screen from an unseen camera.

The Rhino was decked out in SWAT-esque black padded armor from horn to toe and because of all the other candidates' wacky and eye catching attire and weapons Judy had failed to notice the modest utility belt strapped across the Rhino's waist. A number of different metal plates were strapped onto the belt itself, their surfaces shined and exposed for easy access, for whatever reason. A couple more pouches were attached at McHorn's lower back though they were just plain black nylon so Judy couldn't tell their purpose at a glance. The only over item of note was the odd shaped nylon scabbard strapped on McHorn's right thigh with a wrapped handle protruding from it.

The rhino looked calm amidst the gray buildings and silent puppet horde waiting in hiding. He calmly kept his head on a swivel and a hoof hovering close to the odd shaped weapon strapped to his thigh. Elasti-Mare primly settled a headset over her ears and pressed the toggle, her voice echoed clearly through the arena.

"McHorn, you are on a routine patrol when a call comes in from the local ZHA branch. A C-Class Villain has been identified to operate in the area and has been terrorizing the local neighborhoods. Your mission is to find and neutralize the threat with as little damage to the city as possible within the 10 minute time limit. Your target is marked with a red X while his henchmen are marked in yellow. Be cautious as the villain's power is chemical based but specifics are unknown at this time. Your time begins as soon as you step outside your circle. You may begin when ready."

Judy's puff of a tail wiggled in excitement. It sounds like every test is a different scenario! But what dictates the kind of goal for the test? McHorn answered that question when he stepped out of the center of the arena and touched one of the dull silver metal plates on his belt. The rhino's thick gray hide shimmered for a brief moment before solidifying into a reflective shine identical to the plate of metal he had just touched.

 _Metal Mimicry? Mostly considered a C-Class power. Being a rhino and touching steel or something similar would basically turn him into a living tank. It would be kit's play for him to just fight a few mannequins like that hippo. Is that why Elasti-Mare gave McHorn this search-and-suppress mission, to see how he deals with being at a disadvantage?_

Judy felt both a small sense of relief for finally understanding how the combat trial operates and a slightly terrifying trepidation for what lay ahead settle over her. She knew she was as prepared as she possibly can be for whatever lay ahead but judging from the way they were creating the combat trial the better prepared the candidate the harder the test. McHorn was only a C-class and this crazy display was all for him, just how hard will the trial for an A-class like her be?!

A thundering rumble from the arena below jolted her from her thoughts. The projection on the blast shield was marred in smoke, mirroring the plume of dust that rocketed up from the far side of the false neighborhood. She could barely make out a flash of silver hide careening through the billowing dust followed by a thick thud and the bodies of numerous yellow painted puppets spiraling out of the chaos with thick dents pounded into their armor.

McHorn appeared from the dust cloud horn down plowing a path through a disheveled squad of yellow puppets. A trio of puppets leapt from a third story window overhead to land on the charging rhino's back. Judy thought he was in trouble seeing exactly what those deceptively powerful puppets were capable of but before they could do more than wrap their knobby limbs around his neck and shoulders he bucked his head.

The rhino's metallic horn caught the center puppet in its blank faceplate and instantly sagged as if someone had flicked its off switch. With a snort McHorn flicked his deadweight from his back and crossed his massive arms to grasp his remaining passengers by their heads and slammed them both simultaneously into the gray faux sidewalk. Shaking his freed armored shoulders McHorn marched victoriously passed his down foes and farther into the maze.

Without thinking Judy bounced to her feet and loudly cheered with an exhilarated grin on her face, a feeling shared by most of her fellow applicants, a number of voices joined her in cheering on the rhino.

 _That was great!_

"Woot! Go McHorn!" Judy's ears bobbed as she did one of her overly excited little happy-shuffles before plopping back into her seat, her violet eyes wide, not wanting to miss a second of the action.

 _Watching fights in person beats one of master's recorded battle-reels any day!_

As exciting as his opening moments were Judy quickly realized just how daunting McHorn's trial was. The Rhino super's "Metal Mimicry" ability seemed to tire him out quickly, Judy guessed his power doesn't just copy a metal's toughness but its mass as well, easily adding several thousand pounds to his considerable muscled bulk. This search and suppress mission seemed to focus on speed, aggressive combat ability, and stamina, all of which McHorn's Superpower did nothing to help.

If anything his ability to coat himself in heavy metal armor seemed to be more of a hinderance, the increased weight from using his power both slowed him down, cost him mobility, and taxed his endurance.

Eight minutes had elapsed and although McHorn had reduced dozens of yellow puppets to spindly piles of recycling he still hadn't even found the red painted boss. Another drawback that Judy hadn't thought of before was that it seemed that McHorn's thick metal hide prevented him from sweating, his wide tongue lolled from his mouth and Judy saw his movements sway and become sloppier, the telltale signs of overheating.

 _McHorn might not make it!_

Unconsciously Judy's stubby nails found their way between her buck teeth and she nervously nibbled them as she remained transfixed on the exhausted rhino. She saw a yellow mannequin snake its way past his guard and strike him hard across his cheek and to her horror McHorn toppled over.

Judy bolted to her feet as yellow sparks sizzled and danced across her gray fur and jump between her erect ears. She cupped her paws and screamed,

"COME ON! GET UP! GET UP MCHORN! GET UP!"

For one still, heart wrenching moment the applicant didn't move. Then the rhino's steel ear flicked and with aching slowness his boulder like arms bunched underneath his weight. With a colossal effort and a guttural snarl of defiance that had no business coming from a rhino's throat McHorn rose to his feet and towered over the small army of yellow puppets like a Titan from myth and legend.

Judy swallowed what would have been a very demeaning squeal of delight as the Rhino clashed with the wave of puppets with renewed vigor. A swing of his arm scattered a trio of his yellow assailants across the street and a sharp jerk of his horned head sent another spinning into a false apartment building foyer leaving the rhino standing alone in the street his armored chest heaving as he sucked in air.

Then just as the clock hit nine minutes a lanky figure with a blood red 'X' on its barrel like chest emerged from the hole in the apartment building and McHorn's brief victory went up in smoke as he sized up his new opponent.

The previous puppets Judy had seen Puppet-Master control had been vaguely canine or cervine in shape, their segmented limbs modest and familiarly mammal-like with average proportioned core and chest with a sleek blank head in the silhouette of a wolf, though none of the puppets had a tail.

This one, the 'boss', was anything but average. Its limbs were far too long and tapered to sharp points attached to a body distorted into a mockery of the mammalian figure with a wide blank head that looked like reptilian in nature. This thing was more at home in one of Judy's nightmares.

"What in my grandma's sandy shorts is that?!" a camel applicant shouted a few feet from Judy's right.

The spider/snake-headed thing locked its wide viper head in McHorn's direction then skittered towards the shaken Rhino with a burst of speed it absolutely had no business having. Its spear-like appendages made a rapid spine-chilling "click, click, clicking" noise as it ate up the distance between it and its prey. As it ran its previously unseen jaw unhinged and a sickly green smoke oozed from its maw.

McHorn to his credit decided now was a good time to panic.

The rhino released his power and his silvery armored skin collapsed back into normal leathery hide as he fled from the monstrosity just as it let loose a blast of the green gas. McHorn managed to avoid the cone of weaponized smoke and barreled down the empty street as sweat that had built up form his fight spilled in rivets from his skin quickly soaking into his Kevlar armor and making everything slick to the touch.

McHorn was fast, almost deceptively so for a mammal of his mass but even he couldn't outrun the spider-snake puppet skittering after him and gaining with every second. It overtook the rhino and its front leg lashed out slicing a gash across his arm. McHorn bit out a pained grunt and ducked another spear-like limb aimed at his leg.

Judy didn't know how the rhino was going to turn this fight around. The spidery boss puppet's gas attack and frightening and lethal appearance was a perfect counter to McHorn's metal mimicry power and his natural might. If he could somehow avoid the boss's gas and deadly limbs to land a solid blow to its relatively delicate looking body he had a chance but he had less than 45 seconds to do it!

Those same thoughts seemed to have been going through McHorn's head as well, but unlike Judy McHorn seemed to have figured out a plan.

He skidded to a halt just as the boss caught up with his and reared its spindly body up, its jaws open and head cocked to spew its gas, but before it could exhale its chemical attack McHorn grasped his previously untouched hilt strapped to his thigh and drew it from its holster. A mace made of a dull gray metal slipped from its holster and whistled through the air harshly right before impacting with the boss' jaw with a thick thud.

McHorn's gambit paid off, his powerful blow smashed the boss' jaw closed and sent the lanky monstrosity reeling with an unnatural grinding screech that tore at Judy's sensitive ears like claws. It landed on its back its spear-like appendages thrashing wildly in a manner that was far too much like a spider's death throes.

McHorn, his chest still heaving from exertion, tapped a hooved finger to a tool steel plate on his belt once more encasing himself in silvery armor. The thrashing limbs slammed into the advancing rhino but bounced off uselessly with a sharp ping. McHorn smirked as he lifted his mace and with a bellow he brought his weapon down onto the boss' head and immediately the legs curled in on themselves and finally it lay still.

A horn blast signaled the end to his trial and McHorn shouted his victory and pumped a fist into the air as the landscape around him melded into the floor until all that was left in the bowl shaped arena was the rhino and his defeated foe. Judy and the rest of the applicants jumped to their feet and cheered, the rabbit herself shook her hips and tail in a victory dance, her arms pumping in time with her flopping ears.

Elasti-Mare was unphased by the applauding applicants and sling-shot herself over the blast shield and landed fluidly a few feet away from McHorn, her neutral expression dousing much of McHorn's glee and sucked a lot of the energy from the cheering crowd.

Elasti-Mare sidled up to the sweaty and exhausted rhino and showed him her clipboard. She pointed out a few of her notes and explained a few things that had McHorn nodded along with a mix of both pride and humility.

 _I guess he did well, but not outstanding._ Judy mused.

It was an exciting trial but even though McHorn had technically completed his objective he had done so through wrecking half the false neighborhood along with the small army of puppets. Though what they had otherwise expected from a defensive ability wielding mammal the size of a wolf's minivan was beyond her.

After a few more brief and quiet exchanges McHorn and Elasti-mare separated, the rhino had a satisfied curl to his lips on his tired face so in the end he passed the Public Defender Trial. He climbed the stairs and locked eyes with Judy and gave a tiny nod of his head silently communicating that at some point during the fight her shouted cheering had been heard. She coughed; a bit embarrassed that she had been so loud but returned his small gesture.

"Here ya go mate." The strange hyena that had sat behind her in the written test had hopped down with a crooked grin on his face and took hold of McHorn's forearm to help him up the last of the stairs.

Judy raised an eyebrow at the odd hyena's behavior (Just how much help would a mammal in the same weight case as your excrement really be in carrying you up a flight of stairs?) but chalked it up to just one of the stranger's quirks. McHorn's face carried a similar expression as Judy but he relented and let himself be led to an empty set next to Judy.

Suddenly he jerked back the arm the hyena had been holding and Judy realized the spider/snake puppet's glancing blow had scored through his padded gauntlet and a steady drip of blood trailed from his hooved fingers.

"Sorry 'bout that." The hyena said, his paw coming off McHorn's arm a little bloody. The strange mammal flashed the rhino another weird grin and his eyes flicked to Judy's face for a split second as if the gauge her reaction. She furrowed her brow but the hyena just wiped his stained paw on his hoodie and took his seat behind Judy so she decided to leave it alone.

She turned her head a little to side eye the hyena has he climbed the bleachers and for a split second she thought she saw him lick his claws but when she glanced behind to her look square in his face the hyena's paws were in his lap and he meet her gaze with another crooked grin and tiny giggle.

Judy shook herself and with a small amount of trepidation and a sudden urge to change seats and scrub her fur clean of his gaze she turned her attention back towards the arena, but not before thrusting a fist out towards McHorn. The rhino blinked down at her tiny fist in confusion for a moment before comprehension dawned on him. He snorted good naturedly and returned her fist-bump and slowly scooting her a full foot across her sea eliciting a small giggle from the bunny doe.

While Judy and McHorn had been distracted Elasti-Mare had called the next applicant down to the arena. A powerful looking tiger in a minimal amount of armor and a robust bodybuilding physique rose from a small cluster of other felines that had congregated on the far end of the bleachers and strode confidently down the steps and into the arena's epicenter.

Elasti-Mare cocked an eyebrow when the tiger grinned down at her and said something. Whatever he said must have been rude because the painted mare frowned and with barely restrained ire went through her set of questions and noted them down on her clipboard then returned to relay them to Puppet-Master. Judy noted that Elasti-Mare leaned over to Bellwether and whispered something into the ewe's tapered ear.

The grin that spread across both female's faces sent a shiver down Judy's spine.

"That tiger's a goner." She commented. McHorn raised a brow at her but smirked with a shrug.

Judy's offhand prediction turned out to be painfully accurate. Elasti-Mare announced the tiger's objective for his trial and instead of another urban simulation the floor cracked and rumbled for a moment before pillars of solid gray shot up randomly towards the ceiling and stopped at varied heights. Atop some of the pillars stood solid gray puppets armed with blunted weapons and (though this could have just been Judy's imagination) dangerous tilts to their heads as if they were sizing up newfound prey.

For the first time the tiger's confident smirk slipped.

When his trial started the tiger lasted exactly 5 seconds, the feline ending his test with a yowl of terror before being buried under a wave of bat-wielding puppets.

On the observer's seats Robin Hood face palmed and Helios's shook his head with as exasperated sigh. Elasti-Mare and Puppet-Master on the other hand shared supremely satisfied grins. As for the applicants, suddenly their confident smiles became sorely lacking. Judy gulped and shifted in her seat, knowing what she was going next.

When the tiger was scraped off the floor and carried off Puppet-Master reverted the arena back to its bowl shape Elasti-Mare once against stopped at the center of the Arena and called out the next applicant.

Judy tucked her padded helmet under her arm and rose on suddenly shaky knees and with as much dignity as she could manage hopped down the stairs and across the arena until she stood a few feet from Elasti-Mare with a pale look on her face.

She only hoped it didn't show through her gray fur.

Elasti-Mare noticed anyway and smiled down at the suited up rabbit comfortingly.

"Are ya ready sweetheart?" the painted mare asked kindly dropping her professional Hero persona for a moment to set the bunny at ease, her melodic voice carried a distinct country drawl that Judy found familiar.

"Yes Ma'am!" Judy piped up with a nervous bounce on her heels, her own country accent bleeding onto her voice, something that Elasti-Mare noticed.

"Yew're from Bunny Burrow, ain'tcha?" The mare inquired, a smile overcoming her masked face as she went down on one knee to better talk with the short bunny. Judy bobbed her head a touch more vigorously than she had intended, for all her preparation and internal pep-talks she still was wrecked with a sudden attack of nerves.

"The best county there is!" Judy exclaimed with a competitive grin, feeling a little lightheaded from her nervousness. It had the adverse effect of somehow removing the filter between her mouth and her brain because the next thing she said was, "Though Deerbrook is a quant second."

Elasti-Mare burst into giggles and Judy stood back and mentally gawked at her own audacity while thanking her lucky stars that the hero hadn't been offended.

"If you can joke like that here in your trial than I think ya'll do just fine." Elasti-Mare quirked before falling back into her professional demeanor and turning her attention to her clipboard.

Judy watched with object fascination as she saw Elasti-Mare's brows rise as she read Judy's application, then rose higher again, then again until it looked like her purple half-mask was about to pop right off from over her eyes. Elasti-Mare tore her eyes from her clipboard and set Judy with a flabbergasted stare.

"You're A-Class already?" Judy nodded cautiously, unsure on where this was going. Elasti-Mare seemed to be having trouble processing what she had just read. "A-a-and your mentor was Typhoon?"

Again Judy bobbed her head, still confused. Elasti-Mare still seemed unconvinced.

"I mean, THE Typhoon. Like retired A-Class hero with the most Super-Villain captures of any Superhero in history? That Typhoon?"

"Yup." Judy replied automatically. "He was my neighbor. He lived in a little cabin by the river." She added.

"Is there a problem?"

Judy looked over and with a jolt saw Robin Hood standing just a few feet away, his blue eyes shining from beneath his hood.

Elasti-Mare shook her head. "No, there is no problem per say, but…" She leaned over to the red fox and showed him Judy's application. She watched as Robin Hood's own shadow darkened brows rose and she flinched when his frigid blue eyes suddenly snapped to her with what she could only describe as a bloodthirsty fire dancing in his gaze.

"Judith Hopps?" He said in his smooth, rich tenor tinged with subtle power. "Your trial will be one-on-one combat-" Judy felt a trickle of fear freeze low in her gut as Robin Hood's lips peeled back into a maniacal grin.

"-and your opponent will be me."

Zootopia Hero Association Database

-Location: ZHA HQ

-Terminal: #218 2nd floor

-Access Authority Level: Confidential

-Access date-time group: 23:45 Local 23 MAR 2019

…Accessing Personnel Databank…

…Accessing Personnel Databank…

[ERROR!] [ERROR!] [UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED!] [HOSTILE MALWARE DETECTED!] [ERROR!] [eRroRRRrRRr….

…Access Granted…

…Welcome Back Cypher…

…Accessing A Class Personnel Files…

-R0bin Pi#*[ERROR]+?*us

-Hero Alias: Robin Hood

-Age: 28 Years = ?|[ERROR]

-Status: Active (2009-Present)

-Species: Red Fox

-Family-

-Mother: Gl**([Error] ! (Deceased)  
-Fa-&**#[ERROR]?./  
-%^*859[ERROR]

-Power: Avatar of Order (P0wer L8 el: A-S)  
Avatars are considered the most powerful type of ability any mammal can possess.

Avatars are the embodiment of whatever they represent. Avatars of Order are among the strongest Supers in the world, often with abilities capable of controlling the world around them and bending them to their wills.

Robin's Avatar Catalyst is an ethereal bow with a wide arsenal of abilities at its disposal, including exploding arrows, warp arrows, smoke arrows, trap arrows and others. Robin has a reputation as of never missing a shot. His aim is perfect.

-Brief History: After his parents divorced Robin was… (&*2?'{[ERROR] [FILE CORRUPTED]… again until nearly 5 years later when his mother had cleaned up her act.

^*2q43th^&FG[ERROR][FILE CORRUPTED]uk4tfYEUgw0y… and many others.

Robin threw himself into his studies and training, his hatred for chaos was only fed by his disgust for

At 18 years old Robin would become the youngest official Hero Zootopia ever had and he would go on to serve the city for the next ten years in the name of peace through absolute Order.

...Downloading File…

...Download Complete…

...Logging Out…

...Cypher Disconnected...

A/N: Whew boy, Judy is in trouble now, isn't she?

I would like to apologize for the lack of updates in of fics as of late, 2019 hit me hard and I found much of my enthusiasm for Zootopia fanfiction quashed as did much of my free time. I've released some other works but it wasn't until recently that I've turned my focus back to the fandom with a renewed heart and a bit more time on my hands. I hope I haven't lost too many of you folks due to my inactivity and I hope to rejuvenate my presence once again.

I would love to hear your thoughts and field any questions you have in the comment section. I truly do enjoy reading your reactions and speculations! (Not A Hero is full of sneaky little details in my endeavor to give your second read-through of the story as many "oh shit! How did I miss that?!" moments as possible.)

I bet you can't guess who Robin Hood really is! (Or maybe he is really no one at all!) Chew on that 'til the next chapter comment section! Mwahahaha!

-Untraveled


End file.
